


Boarding School Boyfriends

by Fanofthebastillelife



Category: Bastille (Band)
Genre: Boarding School AU, Gay, High School AU, M/M, dyle - Freeform, real fucking gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2018-11-13 20:32:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 32,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11192862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanofthebastillelife/pseuds/Fanofthebastillelife
Summary: "You're lying. You do love me.""Don't be stupid, Daniel. I can't love you.""Now you're lying to yourself, too."





	1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe you're making me do this," Dan grumbles from the back seat of his mums old car as it rumbles down the lonely road and through the dull, boring old town that Dan supposes he would now be calling local. It makes a big difference from that of the usual city of London that he grew up in. "I actually cannot believe you're doing this right now." 

"It's been a long time coming for you, young man," Dan's step-father's voice fills the small car, which he has always hated ("My God, I cannot be caught dead in that! Just look at it, it's falling apart and the engine isn't even on!" He had complained that morning, but refused to take Dan in his own car, or even buy the family another one, considering how much money he makes). If it wasn't for him, Dan wouldn't even be going to this stupid school in the first place. He would be going to his usual school, where he had friends, where he was comfortable, and where he was happy. "You need this." 

"I don't  _need_ anything! I don't need you telling mum what she should and shouldn't do, either- like sending me to this bastard boarding school!" The stubborn teenager has never been one to cause arguments or to get in the way of other people. In fact, he would often be described as a passive individual with a routine life and usual family. This was until his step-father, a child-hating arsehole, came into the scene and royally fucked up the young Smith's life.

"Language, Daniel!" His mum hisses, watching her son in the rear-view mirror. There is something in her eyes that Dan struggles to make out- anger? Upset? It's something like that. She didn't really say anything at all about Dan going to this stupid boarding school, so he's not sure how he is feeling. "B-besides, your f-father-" 

" _He_ is  _not_ my dad." 

"-Is right. You do need this. You've been so... So... Unruly? Lately. You've not listened to anything he has said to you." She tells Dan as the large school rolls over the hill, the tall buildings easily towering over everything around it. Dan didn't really know what to expect, but it definitely wasn't that.

"That's because he's so full of himself I'm surprised he hasn't tried to name the dog after himself. He wants what is best for him, not for everyone. That's why I'm being sent here, so he can fuck me off out of his hair. He probably doesn't even love You. God knows why he's even here in the first place, Mr bloody money bags yet he marries into  _this_ family. The family that have one car that's on its last legs! He probably did it because there is nobody else out there who will love him!"

Dan knows his words will annoy the couple to an unexplainable extent, but he doesn't care enough to stop himself. They have done this, so he doesn't care how much he annoys them now. He's beyond the point of return.

"Daniel! That is enough!" 

"It's nothing like that, you brat! I lov-" 

"Whatever." 

 

"Ah. You must be the new Smith boy. Correct?" The head of the school stands before Dan, his black hair starting to grey around the sides. He wears a dark suit that fits snugly around his body, and his frame demands respect upon his arrival. His dark skin is beginning to wrinkle, his eyes shining with years of experience. He reminds Dan strangely of a teacher at his old school- intimidating, yet friendly. Just don't get on his bad side.

"Yes, Sir. Though I prefer to be called Dan as opposed to just Smith." Dan's voice is quiet compared to that of the Headmaster, though he still presents himself as just as confident. Dan doesn't want to come across as vulnerable at all- that's how you make yourself the victim.

"Well, Dan. Welcome to Foxhill Academy. My name is Mr Chambers, and this here is Wil- Oh for the love of God.  _WILLIAM!"_ Mr Chamber's voice cuts through the air like a hot knife through butter, making the new boy jump.

"Yes, Sir?" A teenage boy in a red vest jumper over a white shirt walks through the door, confidence pouring from every pore of his body and filling the room.

"Don't wonder off like that if I tell you to stay here! That defeats the whole objective of me telling you to stay here in the first place!" The headmaster shakes his head, a frown on his face.

"With all due respect, Sir, you did walk in and see that I wasn't in the room. Perhaps if you had paid more attention, then-" A cheeky smile spreads across the boy's face, a knowing look in his eyes.

"Farquarson. Now is not the time for your cockiness." 

"Right. I was just saying, though." The teenager turns to Dan, a smile on his face. "Hi, I'm Will, but I'm sure you already heard that. I'll be showing you around this glorious establishment that is He- Sorry, I mean Foxhill Academy!" 

Mr Chambers sighs, frowning at Will. "William, you are on very thin ice. Now, go and show Daniel around like I told you you would be doing..." 

"-And showing you how much of a nice, accepting environment we are! Please, do follow me!" Dan can't help but laugh at Will's sudden enthusiasm in his voice as the headmaster just sighs and shakes his head.

"Bring him back to my office when you're done, Will." 

"Yes, Sir." 

The two boys leave the office and go through to a small room that is the reception, where two girls, both roughly eleven with equally tear stained faces sat on the small, uncomfortable looking sofa. They are being lectured by a middle-aged woman who is looking down her nose at them, her greying hair tied neatly into a bun. "This," Will gestures to the room around them, "Is reception. You only really come here if you need to speak to Mr Chambers or you're in trouble. So, unless you find yourself getting into trouble a lot, you probably won't see this room very often. That woman is the receptionist, Mrs Latham, but she's, well, you know..." He mouths  _'a bit of a bitch'_ and points to her as they leave the room. This makes Dan laugh.

"So this is the main school building. For some reason, there's that big empty square right there, but that's the main door into the building. Nobody knows why it's there. Anyway, there is where most of your lessons will take place, so you'll probably be in here most of the time. PE and DT take place in different buildings, but we'll get to them soon enough." 

Will takes Dan over to a corridor lined with lockers, all in the same dull yellow. "This is your locker. It's next to mine, here, so if you need anything during the day, just come here and wait for me." 

"Okay..." Will gives Dan the locker combination, and the new boy fumbles with the lock to try and open it. "We didn't have lockers at my old school," he decides to let Will know, so he doesn't come across as a completely incompetent individual. The locker flies open. "What's all this?"

"These are your text books and your timetable. Since it's five o'clock, lessons are done for today- oh, yeah. We only have two a day, as opposed to like, five, or whatever normal schools have. We have one in the morning from half nine until half eleven, and one in the afternoon from half one until half three. Then we have until ten until curfew to do whatever we want, like going into the town. If you ever want to go, just tell me and I'll take you since you've never been."

"These guys here are the prefects." Will tells Dan as they walk on a little, slowly making their way through the corridor. "They wear these stupid suits as they like to think they own the place- they don't, but they think they're better than everyone. All they do is just make sure nobody causes trouble. If you're going to do anything stupid, just don't do it in front of them. You'll learn that pretty quickly." 

"What the whole deal with colours of jumpers, too? Why is yours red, but hers is blue?" Dan questions, looking at the different coloured jumpers as they walk by, giving Dan strange looks due to his lack of uniform.

"Well, school is split into houses. I'm not sure why they're called what they are, but there is a trend of... Like, holiness or something? There's blue house, who are called King, Red house- so that'll be us two- we're called Divine, purple house is called Jewel, and, very creatively, Green house, who are, well, green." Will laughs, gesturing to the people around them in the different coloured jumpers. 

The pair of them descend some stairs that go into the large square, splitting off to either side. As they leave the main building and go outside, a set of stairs descends into a courtyard, with two dorms facing each other. "These are our dorms. There's a dorm for girls and a dorm for the boys. We're not allowed in the girls dorm, and vice versa. I'll show you to your room later." 

Will shows Dan the entire school- the gym, the DT classroom, the football pitch, the other dorms, and the cafeteria ("Where the animals go to get their feed." He had told Dan, rolling his eyes.). Finally, they landed in Dan's room in their dorm after going to see Mr Chambers again, who gave him his uniform. He's surprised to find that it's a reasonably large room on the second floor of the building. Inside, it has plain walls, a double bed, a desk, and a wardrobe in it, as well as a bookcase full of books that have been collecting dust since they have been here.

"This is your room. Your stuff is there, and your keyboard. Didn't think you'd play music, but whatever. If you need me, I'm in the first room on the right on the ground floor, across from the lounge. Erm... Yeah, think that's about it. Anyway, feel free to put some posters up, or whatever. Welcome to Foxhill Academy, AKA Hell."


	2. Chapter two

"New blood," the new teenager hears someone say the following morning as he follows Will into the diner, where students go to eat all three of their meals. It's a large room, with five long tables in the centre and a queue for food at the very back, food which is served by an ageing lady who looks like she'd rather be anywhere else but there.

"Ignore them," Will warns Dan in a hushed voice, "They're just idiots. They couldn't tell an apple from an elephant. They'll try and fight anything that moves- it's like being in a zoo full of baboons." 

Dan laughs at the comment as he follows Will, his guide. He chooses the same food as he does and even follows him to a table where another boy is sat, a boy that Dan doesn't recall seeing at all yesterday, even though Will said hey to many people

"Alright, Woody?" Will smiles at the boy, who wears a blue jumper. He has shoulder length hair and a glint in his eye that screams mischief.

"Morning," he replies without a smile, lethargy in his voice. He looks like he woke up just seconds ago. "Ever told you how much I hate mornings?" 

"Just the once. Anyway, Woody, this is Dan. He's new and he will be sitting with us now, so try and perk up a bit please. And Dan, this is Woody. He hates mornings." 

Dan smiles as he takes a seat next to Will, "Nice to meet you," he smiles, shaking his hand. "I would like to say I also hate mornings, but I've never usually had a problem with them."

"That's... That's just weird." Woody grunts, shaking his head at Dan, who just laughs.

"Oi! New Blood!" Someone shouts over towards Dan, grabbing his attention. "What are you here for, then, Daddy issues?" There's a chorus of  _ooh's_ around the room, as if he had said something completely unbelievable. People fall into a stunned silence, wondering how the new kid will react.

Although the comment confuses Dan- is this the place where kids get sent to if they have 'daddy issues'?- an argument takes place in his head. Either he can be the passibe person he was before, at his old school, or he can argue back and let it be known that he won't take anyone's shit.

"Fuck off, that's why you're here, not me." He replies, rolling his eyes. This silences the room immediately.

Woody's eyes shoot open in shock, as do most other peoples, "Dan..." He says quietly, a lump building in his throat. "His name is Russell... That  _is_ why he's here."

Russell is way taller than Dan by at least a foot if not more,  and definitely way heavier. As he rises from his chair, sending it backwards, a bubble of fear rises in Dan.

"I don't care!" Dan replies, watching the larger boy stalk closer to them. Will just sits and shakes his head. Dan is only going to learn one way, clearly.

"The fuck did you just say?" Russell has a voice deeper than anything Dan has ever heard. This causes another mental argument to take place- does he repeat what he's said or just mumble a  _nothing, I'm so sorry._

"You heard me." 

"Oh my God, Dan. Shut the fuck up." Will watches the scene unfold, feeling helpless as he watches Dan just dig himself a deeper grave. 

"No, I refuse to sit here whilst this  _moron_ sits chatting absolute shit with no proff of anything." The teenager growls, "It's not my fault your fucking dad doesn't love you, so don't take that out on me. Okay?" 

Will just face palms and Woody looks away as Russell lifts his face. Dan watches his life flash before his eyes.

Will just face palms and Woody looks away as Russell lifts his fist.

"Russell, man, stop." Somebody shouts from Russell's table, their voice making Russell lower his fist. "Sit down before you get into trouble, you fool." 

Will face palms and Woody looks away as Russell lifts his fist.

"Russell, man, just stop." Somebody from that table says, their voice making Russell lower his fist, almost as though whoever's voice it was had calmed the most vicious of oceans. "Sit down before you get yourself into even more trouble, you fool." 

Dan doesn't get a chance to see who said it, but for the rest of breakfast, he is constantly reminded that he is an idiot by Will and Woody multiple times, and he receives the occasional glare from Russell. He thinks nothing of it, though. As much as he doesn't want it to happen, he will fight if he has to. Then again, he knows he will lose.  
  


 

"This, my death searching friend, is our English room. Our teacher, Miss Baxter, usually turns up around four minutes late- and yes, it is just  _that_ boring that we count." Dan follows Woody into a classroom to find all seats but two taken up. "Pretty passive class if you ask me- ain't nobody in here who will cause trouble." 

Dan takes a seat on the desk between where Woody has sat down, and next to a boy who appears to be asleep. His head is on the desk, his eyes shut.

"Oi, Barnes. Wake up before you get yelled at again." Woody tells the boy, throwing his pen at him from his own desk, letting it fly over Dan. The boy just grunts and turns the other way. "Didn't see you at breakfast, as per the norm." 

"Too early,"  _Barnes_ mumbles, still not lifting his head. "Way, way too early. Far too early. Abuse and all that." 

"At least lift your head to introduce yourself, man. This is Dan, the new kid. Dan, this is Charlie. He is always asleep or causing trouble."

Charlie laughs and lifts his head from the desk, "There is no better way to describe me than that. I hate everything so much..." 

"As you can see, he's very optimistic." Woody smiles, going to retrieve his pen. 

Dan takes note of Charlie's blue jumper that matches Woody's, and the matching mischievous glint. 

"How could anybody stuck here be optimistic?" Charlie laughs as the teacher walks in.  
  


"Oi! Fresh blood, what're you doing?" Someone yells at Dan as he walks up to his locker. "Why's your hair look like that?" 

There is no denying that Dan's hair makes him stand out from everyone else, the way it seems to just stand on its own. It's always been something he has been aware of, although he's never felt particularly self-conscious about it. 

"Fuck off," Dan says, running his hand through it to make it stand taller. He refuses to let these people get the better of him.

"Shut the fuck up, his hair is fine," he hears someone comment, their voice distinctly familiar from earlier when Russell was about to knock his lights out. When Dan looks around, though, he can't see who it's coming from.  "Stop bullying him. I like his hair." 


	3. Chapter Three

The lessons drag by slowly and on several occasions Dan finds himself longing for the moment the bell will ring. Lunch passed by, surprisingly, with no issues, and second lessons (maths) bored the boy out of his own mind. The only lesson he wanted to be in was music, and he doesn't even know how that lesson will be yet.

When the bell finally rings and Dan goes back to his dorm, he finds himself landing in Will's bedroom, which is far more decorated than his own. The bedsheets are the same as Dan's, but on the wall is a poster for some old jazz band, and the books on the bookshelf are personal books, ones that Will has actually read. The stuff in Will's room looks as though it has all been collected over years- how long has Will been here?

"Someone is sticking up for you," Will comments out of the blue as he lounges around on his desk chair, spinning himself in circles. Dan just lies on the other boy's bed, staring up at the ceiling with his hands on his stomach. "Not only do they do it at breakfast this morning, but they did it whilst you were going to your locker, too." 

Dan frowns at the comment, he didn't even know Will was around then. He hates the fact that be doesn't know who it is, the fact that it's all anonymous. He also hates that he's not been given chance to stick up for himself much- that just makes him appear weak and vulnerable.

"Yeah," he mumbles with a sigh. "I know. Do you have any idea as to who it could be?" 

Will just shrugs, biting his lip. "We'll have a look tomorrow morning. Either way, Dan, whoever is doing it must have taken quite the liking to you. Nobody ever sticks up for anyone, not in this school at least. It's a dog eat dog world here. Dangerous and scary- quite frankly, I'm surprised you even had the bollocks to stand up for yourself in the diner with Russell the other day." 

"I'm not letting people walk all over me. Or walk over anyone else, for that matter. It's not fair." Dan grumbles, shaking his head. "It happened at my old school all the time. Sometimes it was to me, sometimes it was to other people, but that doesn't change anything. It's not funny, clever, or cool. Anyone who bullied anyone else is a fucking arsehole and it needs to be taken seriously." 

Will nods, "Can't argue with that, really." He says finally, stopping himself spinning on the chair. "You're a good kid, Dan. You think about the bigger picture rather than just yourself." 

Dan doesn't respond to that.

 

"What are they doing?" Will and Dan stand at the fence facing where Woody and Charlie stand. The two men stand together, fiddling with something between them with a wicked smile on their faces and a glint in their eyes that says trouble.

A laugh erupts from the pair and Will just smiles at them. "They're partners in crime. They're responsible for, like, 90% of the school's pranks. In fact, they pull the fire alarm once a month of the seventeenth at three-forty in the morning. It drives everyone crazy. I can't blame them, though." 

"Well, I'm definitely looking forward to that." The seventeenth is only five days away, and Dan is  _not_ going to be happy about waking up for that.

"Yeah, so is everyone else. Anyway, as far as I can tell you, they're definitely planning something. If not, they're still up to no good. They're always doing something." 

Woody and Charlie look around them quickly to make sure no teachers or prefects are around them but don't click onto Dan and Will.

"Come on, let's go to the football pitch or something." 

 

"It's just so weird being here, though." They sit on the bleachers by the pitch, watching a group of boys kick a football around. "Like, you're always with somebody. You literally can't do anything on your own." 

"Well, you can always, like, you know, shower... Shut your door... Anything really." Will shrugs and scratches his cheek. "You'll get used to it eventually. To begin with, even I hated it. Speaking of that,  _why are_ you here?" 

"Well, I hate my step dad and my step dad hates me. When one argument lead to another and another, I landed up here." Dan hated those arguments, they used to last for hours, sometimes even days. There would be absolutely no escaping them, and no matter what he did, even if he was agreeing with his step dad on something, Dan would still get yelled at. "So I'm supposing you mean everyone has a reason to be here..." 

"Look around you, man! Does this look like a school a loving parent would send their kid to?" Will gestures around him with a laugh. Dan nods.

"I guess so, but what are you here for?"  

Will has always been hesitant about his story, about his reason. It's never really been one he wants to tell people, and he hates doing it.

"It's a bit of a long story..." He mumbles as he shakes his head, casting his eyes to the ground.

"Well... I have all day." 

Defeated, Will sighs. "My parents  _did_ love me- they really did. And I loved them. And one day, I was arguing with my parents about something stupid, I think it was, like, some stupid fucking comic book or something ridiculous. And they didn't see it coming, they didn't see this, this stupid fucking Ford. I can't remember anything about it apart from the brand. It killed both of them, and it should have killed me, too. I got given the choice: come here, or go to some shitty foster family who only care about the money. Quite frankly, I sometimes regret my choice." 

The teenager can feel tears sting his eyes, but he doesn't let them fall. Too many tears have been spilt in the past about the subject and he refuses to do it again.

Dan, on the other hand, is at a loss for words. How is he supposed to reply to something like that? Luckily, Will continues on a different subject.

"Not everyone has to have shitty parents or a sob story to be here- like, Woody for example. He's here because he got a chance to go to a specialised football university as long as he came here. If you ask me, I would have turned down the option, but he was way beyond excited when he turned up. Nobody really knows about Charlie, though."

The group on the football pitch laugh, and Dan looks over to catch them looking at him. One of them, however, has his back turned to Dan and is apparently yelling at the others. 

"Who's that?" He asks Will, who is fiddling with his shoelaces.

"No idea. Can't see his face." 


	4. Chapter Four

"New Blood, tell me, please:  _What_ is it like not cutting your hair for the last three years? Do you style it, or do you just leave it be? I'm intrigued!" Someone calls after Dan when he walks into the diner for breakfast the following morning, still half asleep.

"Didn't I tell you to shut the fuck up about his hair?" The same boy shouts back from the front of the line, making Dan's eyes widen, suddenly alert to the world around him. "His hair is way better than yours, you dozy prick, so shut your damn mouth." 

 _"Oi!"_ Dan shouts at him, finally, finally making the boy turn around. Honestly, he looks nothing like Dan expected him to.

He is a lanky teenager, perhaps the same age as Dan, with brown hair and matching brown eyes. He has a bit of stubble that's growing, but it can't quite be accepted as a beard yet. He towers above everyone, a look of annoyance on his face.

But that annoyance softens to a warm sort of comfort on his face when he sees Dan.

"What?" The pair are not that far away from one another, but for some reason, he still shouts back at him. This makes Dan smile- the other boy, whatever his name may be, acts like a child. 

Dan strides out of the line, dropping his place so that they can talk in privacy- even though that does only mean in hushed voices. "Why are you sticking up for me all the time?" 

The other boy just frowns as they stand there. "Well... Do you not want me to?" He balances his tray on one hand as he runs his hand through his hair with the other. "I mean, I guess if you don't want me to-" 

Dan's face shows a picture of confusion as he watches the other boy, who also has a look of confusion on his face. "It's-it's not that I don't want you to, but... I can do it myself... Just, why? Why stick up for someone you don't know?" 

"Because... Well, because you're new. That's why." He says before he is interrupted when someone shouts from his regular table.

"Oi, Kyle! Sit down and quit talking to New Blood, won't you?"

"Shut the fuck up," Kyle growls at them, glaring at them.

"What does that have to do with anything? Being new?" He questions, watching Kyle.

But Kyle just walks off.

 

"So... We know who it is, then..." Will mumbles as they sit by the football pitch again. This time, they are sat with Charlie and Woody, who exchange confused glances. "At least that." 

"Who? Who's doing what?" Charlie asks, curiosity highlighted in his tone.

"Somebody has been sticking up for Dan anonymously, and we were trying to work out who it was. And this morning, our little Danny here had a run in with the stranger, didn't you?" Will tells the other do, raising his eyebrows almost suggestively. Woody gives a nod of understanding.

"So who was it, then?" The star footballer asks, watching Dan who just shrugs.

"His name is Kyle. That's all I know." Will scoffs at the boys answer, rolling his eyes and turning away in a matter that suggests disgust.

"That's bullshit if I've ever heard it, that is. You know what he looks like." He tells him with the shake of his head, "Spill the beans!" 

"He was tall. Brown hair, brown eyes, a bit of stubble. What more can I say? That's all I know." The picture of the boy is clear in Dan's mind- the brown eyes that almost seemed to stun Dan, the entire presence of him that distracted him from the fact he was hungry and didn't get any breakfast. Everything about him was glorious.

"Oh fuck- Kyle Simmons?!" Woody demands. "You're  _kidding_ me! Have you got any lessons with him or anything?" 

"Why? What's up with him? And no, I don't think so. But I haven't had music or photography yet, so I may have..." Kyle had seemed so nice up until now- well, besides from his abrupt ending to their conversation this morning,  and their short meeting.

"He's a dick! Like, honestly. A huge dick. He plays football with us sometimes, but he's mostly a basketball kid. He is literally controlled by that little, pathetic clique of his- he only ever stands up for himself if he  _truly_ believes he is right. It's almost as if they bully him to be exactly like them and it is so fucking sad." 

Dan knows exactly how that feels, what it's like to be doing something you don't want to do.

"Bit of a pussy then, really," Charlie grumbles, shaking his head. 

"Well... I think he's alright," Dan says quietly, earning a glare of disbelief from Woody. The boy has been on his mind all day, his face, his voice,  _him_ just prominent in his mind. "I don't get what the big deal is. Afterall, it's pretty easy to find yourself in that situation." 

"You just don't get it, Dan. He will do pretty much anything to make sure his friends are happy with him. He is probably afraid they'll turn on him or something. It's an endless cycle that he's not gonna get out of until he can leave this bastard place." 

 

 

Will sits on Dan's bed as opposed to the other way round, listening to him play his keyboard on its lowest possible setting. Dan has always thought that maybe he should be concerned about playing the keyboard in front of Will- but he's not. He never has been. In fact, he's quite confident with it.

"Do you believe what Woody says, Will?" He asks, glancing over at him, then back to the black and white keys. He's not sure why, but something about Will just screams wisdom and respect. It seems that everybody has picked up on this because, for the few days Kyle has been at the school, nobody has been horrible to Will. "About Kyle, I mean." 

But, in turn, Will just shrugs. "I'm not sure, honestly. I don't know the kid, so who am I to judge?" Dan just nods in understanding. "But... Just be... Be cautious, yeah? People around here take the cliques very seriously. Around here, your friends are your family." 

But, in turn, the other boy shrugs. "I'm not sure. I don't know the kid, so who am I to judge?" But Dan just nods in understanding. "But... Just be cautious, yeah? People take their cliques very seriously. Around here, your friends are your family."

 


	5. Chapter Five

The next three days roll past without an issue for Dan, uneventful days that merge into one- nobody has shouted at him since his run in with Kyle. As a matter of fact, he hasn't even seen Kyle at all.

He heads through the corridor and up to the music classroom, which is his first lesson on the subject. He isn't sure if he is excited or not- yes, he is good at playing the keyboard... But that's it. That's all he wants to play. He's not bothered about brass or strings, the keys are where his heart lies. He doesn't want to have to play anything else.

The teacher explains that, depending on what instrument you would like to play, you have the choice of four rooms that have that sort of instrument in them- all strings are together, all keys, all brass, and all drums. So Dan excuses himself to the keys room.

"Oh, I didn't expect to be seeing you in here," he hears the familiar voice of Kyle Simmons as he enters the room. "I didn't think you'd play." 

As much as Dan would like to just drift away from him, to keep his distance and stay away from Kyle, he walks closer to him, a smile on his face.

"I play, yeah. Piano, actually. I'm not too bad at it if I say so myself. I didn't you would, though- word has it, you're more a sporty person that what you appear to be." Dan shrugs with a smile, standing next to Kyle behind a keyboard. There are two other people in the room with them, two boys, one who came in to fetch the other and take him elsewhere. When they leave, something about the atmosphere feels intimate.

Kyle just chuckles at the other boy as he watches the two others leave before he speaks once more. "You know me well, man. Although, don't be deluded- a sports person can also be quite a musical person." He says, shuffling a slight bit closer to Dan. Dan pretends not to notice, but his cheeks flush a brilliant red. "Just ask your friend Woods, the drummer. Anyone in this wild world of ours can be anything they would like to be."

The other, Dan, scoffs as he presses his fingers onto the keys, which are a dingy yellow from years of use. "You and I both know that is a lie." A heavy sigh is followed by a rolling of Dan's eyes. "We're stuck here. We are destined to be forgotten about." 

"Woah. Bit early for an existential crisis, don't you think?" Kyle bites his lip, his eyes focused on Dan. "My name is Kyle, although I'm sure you already know that from my dickhead friend the other day." 

"Yeah." 

"Look, the point that I'm trying to get at is that I don't know your name."

"Oh... Sorry. Sorry. That was stupid, sorry. My name is Dan." Dan's cheeks, if possible, become even redder. "Dan Smith. Boring old name, if you ask me." 

"I like it, Daniel. Well, it's finally nice to meet you properly. Not in some hushed voices in the corner of the diner." Kyle looks so innocent in this moment that Dan feels something inside of him change, something flutter from the deepest pit of his stomach. He's not sure how he feels about that feeling. "So, show me what you can play, then. Don't leave a boy hanging."

 

A note on Will's door reads  _fuck off, I'm out,_ so, taking that as a kind, friendly notice that he is not in, Dan lands himself at his own desk, writing an English essay he was set yesterday but couldn't find the effort nor inspiration within him to do. Anyway, his mind is focused on the brown haired, brown eyed boy he has come to know- and wants to know even more. He can't focus on the essay. There isn't a thing about Kyle that Dan doesn't find intriguing.

But then his mind flicks to what Woody had warned him as they sat by the football pitch- that Kyle only cares about his clique and nothing or anyone else. Part of him really wants to believe this isn't true- he doesn't want to just impress his clique at all. As a matter of fact, he seemed really kind earlier. Dan wouldn't have guessed he was anything like what Woody had described.

But when they were in music, Kyle wasn't with his friends.

The frustrated, worn boy gives a grunt of annoyance as he scribbles out his last sentence- it doesn't even make sense. How is he supposed to concentrate on his work when all he can think about is Kyle bastard Simmons?!

"This is impossible," he grunts to himself, slamming his pencil down on the desk and rising from his chair. A quick glance to the clock on the wall tells him that it's almost seven at night, a time Dan would usually consider too early to go to sleep, but today, it seems almost perfect.

He strips himself of his clothes and throws them into the corner before slipping into pyjama bottoms and an old Eraser Head t-shirt. He can't be bothered to be awake anymore.

 

Blue eyes welcome the darkness with anger as their owner blinks into the darkness, a shrill ringing bringing him out of sleep and into the world of the wake. He wonders for a moment what the Hell the fire alarm is going off for (Besides from an obvious fire, but at this point, Dan thinks he'd prefer to just cook alive. At least he doesn't have to move).

Then he realises it's the seventeenth.

 


	6. Chapter Six

The following Friday, Dan, Will, Woody, and Charlie decide to go into the town after lessons finish to go to the fish and chip shop on the corner, then go and hang around in the park for a little bit. The weather isn't too bad, with only partial rain clouds passing through, so the four saw no reason not to go.

"I think everyone is about ready to kill you after that fire alarm," Will tells the trouble makers as they leave the school gates and start towards the bridge that separates the school from the village. Dan wanted to go into the town, but Will didn't really seem to be up to it before today. He's relieved to be out of those school gates, even if only for a short period of time.

As a matter of fact, part of Dan wishes that the others would bring Kyle up. He feels so intrigued about the boy for some reason, and he wants to know about him- but in the least stalkerish way possible.

The grin on Charlie's face spans from ear to ear and a look of pride sets on his features. "Good. At least that way we can get out of this Hellhole, huh?" He jokes, making Woody and Dan laugh. Will doesn't smile, but it's unknown whether that is because he isn't paying attention, or he just didn't find it funny. "Anyways, it's tradition now! They should be used to it, it's not my fault!" 

Dan waits for Will to speak, but the boy just nuzzles his face further into the collar of his coat and stares forward with stormy grey eyes, so he decides he will speak instead. "I mean, if I didn't get the heads-up, I think I'd be pretty annoyed too." Dan laughs, his eyes crinkling in joy. The dull, grubby, almost brown water beneath the bridge they walk over matches the town, which holds a similar dirty, boring look. The group go quiet, so Dan speaks again: "You know, Woody, I spoke to Kyle in music." 

"Oh yeah? 'bout what?" Woody has changed out of his school uniform and into a Plymouth Argyle t shirt and has wrapped a scarf, sporting the same green and white, around himself. "Were any of his friends in there with you?" 

Dan shakes his head, shoving his hands into his coat pockets to save them from the nipping cold. Despite the fact that the sun is out, it's awfully cold. Especially when clouds pass, sending the land into shade. "No, it was just me and him. We spoke about music, mainly. That's all. He's not that bad, really. He was kinda nice to me." 

"Yeah, he's probably not bad when he's alone," Woody scoffs and shakes his head. "I'd still be careful around him though, Smith. It's easy to hide under sheeps wool when you're a wolf." 

Dan nods, finding the wording of Woody's sentence a little strange. He doesn't question it, though, instead focusing on the idea of food as they approach the fish and chip shop. They agree that Will and Charlie will order the food whilst Dan and Woody remain outside because the shop is quite crowded. 

"Look, Dan... Can, can I ask you a strange question?" Woody asks quietly, keeping his voice low to give them a slight bit of privacy. Over his time here, Woody has learnt that the only privacy you get is when you're talking in almost inaudible whispers. Dan nods. "It's not really something you should ask someone, I know, so feel free to not answer it, but... Are you gay?" 

Dan's face twists slightly, and Woody immediately regrets asking the question. It may be simple to most, but for Dan, it's much more complex. "Well, er... Not really, I guess?" He's thought this over a billion times in his head and then some, but he never thought he'd half to articulate it one day. "I mean- I'm not. But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm straight, either. I just kinda think that if I like someone a lot, in a romantic way, then, well, why not, you know? No matter what their gender is. Or gender identity. Or whatever. We're all here for one life, so why not just love the person you want to?" 

Woody shrugs. "Alright, then. Guess I didn't really think of it like that." Woody pauses for a beat. "Just... Whatever makes you happy, Daniel." 

"But Woody?" 

"Hmm?" 

"I wouldn't just go around asking that question to people." 

A smile breaks on Woody's face as Will and Charlie come out of the shop with hands full of food, large pieces of newspaper holding mountains of chips and cod the size of their hands, small tubs with gravy or peas in them. They head towards the park.

 

"So, Mrs Baker told me that, because of the fact I put that firecracker down the loo that one time, I can't go to the toilet during lesson," Charlie scoffs, rolling his eyes. "It's so daft." 

The others just laugh as they eat, watching people as they pass them, some, which Charlie is grateful for, have dogs. "I can kinda understand why, though," Woody is half way through his portion of chips and sits on the bench next to his three friends. "I mean, I genuinely thought you were going to be excluded or expelled or something." 

Charlie just laughs. "They can't get rid of me. Where would they send me?" 

Dan frowns and exchanges a look with Will, "To... Your parents?" Will asks, seemingly dipping his toe in the water with his question.

"Nah, I caused too much trouble for them to want me back. I don't care. As long as I'm laughing, I'm okay." Charlie looks at the other three with mischevious eyes, a knowing look that makes the other three wonder what he's planning.

"Oh..." 

"Oi, Danny boy! Don't look now, but your favourite person is headed this way," Woody teases, looking quickly between Dan and the group of boys who are entering the park.

"Fuck off, man. He's not my  _'favourite person',"_ Dan rolls his eyes but looks over at them. Kyle, like Woody, is also out of his school uniform, but he's sporting a jumper with the NASA logo on it and a fitting pair of jeans. Dan feels his cheeks warm, knowing that he has a  _property of NASA_ jumper. "I wouldn't even consider him my top ten." 

"You have a top ten of your favourite people?" Will questions, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, because, as it happens, I hate everyone. So I don't even have a top three." 

"Wow, thanks!" Charlie chirps sarcastically.

 


	7. Chapter Seven

Dan wakes up on Saturday feeling far more lethargic than usual and wishes he just never had to get out of bed ever again. He doesn't know why he feels this way at all, but he does know that he cannot be bothered to do anything right now. After all, it  _is_ the weekend. Why not have a lie in?

Part of him wishes that he was back home, back in his usual bed with his warm, black and white chevron patterned sheets. He wishes he had all the film posters hanging around his room that he regrets not bothering packing. Instead, he has this boring old room in a boring old school, and he hates it.

The other half of him, however, doesn't want to leave. He doesn't want to go back home or leave any of his friends that he has made, and he is awfully intrigued about Kyle. He doesn't want to leave any of them.

"Oi, Smith," Will's familiar voice says from the doorway, peeling paint flaking and falling to the floor. The boy wears an oversized hoodie and a pair of navy blue tracksuit bottoms. "Letter for you, here." 

The older boy leaves it on Dan's bedside table and the lethargic teenager just reaches a hand out and hits the table in order to find it. He knows who the letter is from before he even looks at the handwriting.

_Dear Daniel,_

_Hi baby. I hope you're having a great time at the school. The leaflets we were given certainly make it look good! Do you really get a flat screen telly in your bedroom? That's amazing!_

_I have full faith in you that you're going to be maintaining your good grades and attending all your classes- but don't forget to make good friends!_

_It's so lonely here without you, but your father and I-_

Dan stops reading, dropping the letter and letting it fall to the floor. He doesn't care at all about his step dad, and he really wishes people would stop calling him his father- he's not. He never will be.

A heavy sigh escapes from him as he wraps himself back up in his duvet, letting his eyes shut. He doesn't get why his mum decides to just dump him here and then write to him. It's like she's trying to rub salt in his fresh wounds.

"Oi, Danny Boy!" He hears from his window, making him shoot straight back up. Who the Hell would be at his window?

"Guys... What the fuck?" Dan asks, confusion setting on his features. He rises out of bed and opens the window. "What the fuck happened to  _doors?"_

"Shh! We're hiding in a bush so none of the prefects can catch us," Charlie whispers, glancing nervously behind him, even though the path leading to the dorm is empty.

"Yeah. We're not allowed in your dorm 'cause we're not in your house and all that." Woody continues, shoving the windows open a little more so they can go through. "Are you going to invite us in or are we going to keep looking like creeps right here?" 

"Well I'm half tempted to keep you out..." Dan smiles maliciously. Woody and Charlie groan in complaint. "Get in here, then. I can't believe you're lucky enough that there's a little ledge right there." Dan rolls his eyes and moves to shut the door to his room so no one can see them.

"Get Lord Farquarson for us, please."   
  


 

"Absolutely not." Will says, shaking his head. "I'm not dealing with explosives, and do you know how dangerous this is, and how much trouble you'll get in if you're caught? This is stupid! I'm not letting you do it!" 

"How many pranks have we done before and not got hurt? It'll be great!" Woody grins as he thinks back to the previous pranks the two of them have carried out.

"Yeah! And it'll get us out of going to lessons!" Charlie has a grin that matches that of Woody's, but Will remains unconvinced. 

"Run us through the plan again," Dan doesn't quite understand what is going on as they sit in his room, sprawled out in different places.

"So, you know the giant projector in the hall? On the ceiling? I was thinking that if we- well, Charlie, cause he's smaller, could climb across it and plant, like, a small explosive, like a firework or a firecracker, or something like that, so when the teachers are in there, we could set it off." As much as Woody explains it, it just doesn't make sense to Dan.

"There's really no way that can work..." He tells them, shaking his head. "There's no way. I wouldn't even think of doing it. The only thing it could do is get us out of the assemblies, if that..." 

Again, the two other boys groan, but Will just nods. "Do something that doesn't risk your life..." He says quietly.

 

Dan sits by the football field waiting for the three of his friends to come from dinner. He didn't find himself hungry enough to eat, so he just went straight to the field instead.

"Hello, Smith," someone says as they walk down the steps to the football pitch, "Nice to see you again." 

Dan looks up and watches Kyle take a seat next to him on the grass, smiling broadly at him.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" Dan has one of his plaid shirts on, but Kyle has a jumper with a tribal cat.

"Waiting for my friends," the tall boy explains, still watching Dan. There's something in his eyes that Dan can't quite identify. "You look very good today."

Dan feels his cheeks heat up.  "O-oh... Thanks."

"I'm only telling the truth," the boy replies innocently. "I think it's the eyes..."

Kyle really does like Dan, but he's not entirely sure if it's platonic or not. Nonetheless, he worries that he'll never really get the chance to keep seeing Dan in order to become good friends.

That saddens him.


	8. Chapter Eight

Woody had caught Kyle as he walked away from Dan and back to the football field where his friends had appeared. He was confused and partly worried at first, he suspected that Kyle was u to no good, but nothing about Dan had suggested anything bad had happened.

"Surely he must have said something," Woody had encouraged Dan when he sat down next to him. The other boy just cast his eyes to the dirty ground beneath them, the dirty ground that Woody had stared at many times wondering why he ever decided to come here anyway.

"He liked my eyes," he finally mumbled, still not daring to look up. He was just relieved that Will and Charlie were still eating and didn't have to share his embarrassment. "That's all he said."

Woody frowned. "That's something, at least. All in good time, young Smith."

Dan lifted his head up at that comment, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You'll get together in good time..." Woody had answered with a sly smile. He, honestly, thinks the pair would make a cute couple.

"Are you... Are you trying to hook us up?" Dan asked with wide eyes, shock in his voice. Woody just smiled, greeting Will and Charlie as they walked onto the pitch.

"And that is why we should totally be hooking Dan and Kyle up. Come on, you've got to at least agree that they'd be a really cute couple!" Woody grins as the four of them sit in the town park just a few hours later, listening to the birds singing in the tree. The clouds above them haven't decided whether or not they should rain yet. Woody has his arm strung around Dan's shoulders, and the other two are trying to remove the picture of their newly found friend and Kyle doing things a little more than kissing from their heads.

"Well, yeah, I guess so. But, well, no offence or anything Dan, but we're not at all like his clique. There's not really much chance that he'd look over at us in a thousand years..." Charlie explains to the other three, fiddling with his shoelaces.

"Well, that's entirely the point! Why wouldn't Kyle want Dan?" Woody gestures to the boy, "He's the opposite of his clique. It does look as though he's been trying to get away from them as much as he can- like going to see Dan this morning!" The footballer has a triumphant grin on his face as everyone else sees the dot-to-dot he is drawing.

Dan's cheeks flush bright red. "It's not like that!" He yells, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment. Most of the other people in the park look around at him but turn their attention back to elsewhere when they realise it's not a fight or anything. "It's not like that at all. He was probably just bored or lonely and saw me sitting there by myself. That's all."

Woody just scoffs, shakes his head, and turns to Will, "Come on, Willers! Surely even you can see this?" He asks the other boy, who nods. "See! Everyone can. Fate, Danny Boy! It's fate!"

Dan takes no notice of his three friends as his cheeks warm to the warmest they have ever been. He wishes the ground would swallow him whole so he could forget about this whole ordeal.

"Speak of the Devil," Will chuckles, watching something in the distance. Dan lifts his head momentarily, looking over to the enterance of the park, where Kyle stands alone. He is totally oblivious to the other three boys. "Call him over, Wood,"

"OI!" Woody yells at the top of his voice, grabbing Kyle's attention, "Simmons, come 'ere!"

Kyle frowns as he walks over to them, smiling at each on of the boys before absolutely beaming at Dan. "What's up, Woody?" He asks after a prolonged stare at Dan.

"Well, here's the thing. We're hungry- like, really hungry. But all of us- besides Dan- are lazy, so we don't wanna go to the shop. If you're feeling kind, would you like to go with Dan for us?" Woody pleads, an innocent, puppy dog like look in his eyes.

Kyle laughs, "No, go yourself." He says, shaking his head. But he doesn't move.

"Come on, we really can't be bothered. And you're here now, so you might as well. I'll give you money to get yourself something?"

The tall boy sighs, "You're so lazy it's unreal."

"Great. And get Danny something nice, too!"

Dan walks awkwardly next to Kyle, his cheeks still mildly red. "They're so embarrassing..." He tells Kyle, knowing that he'll kill Woody the next time he sees him. "It's like having three older brothers who just want to embarrass you."

Kyle laughs, but he raising his eyebrows in fake offence. "Wow, you are embarrassed about me? Thanks, Smith!" They turn the corner, the shop just down the way. There's a small alley way next to it, though.

"No! I didn't mean it like that!" Dan stumbles for an answer as they approach the fish and chip shop. "I just meant it like... Like..."

"Like?"

"Like they think you like me..." Dan confesses quickly, wanting more than ever to just dive off that bridge.

Kyle stops talking for a minute. It even sounds like he's not breathing. "Well..." he says finally, "What if I do?"

This time is Dan's turn to pause. He doesn't get much chance, however, as Kyle pushes him into the alley and behind the shop.

"I really do, Daniel." He tells the boy, pushing him against the navy blue wall of the shop and crashing his lips to his own.

And Dan is left more confused than Dan ever. But awfully grateful for Woody.

 


	9. Chapter Nine

Dan couldn't bare the idea of putting up with the cheeky comments and questions from the other three boys on what happened if he returned back to them in the park (not as if he would have to tell them, anyway. Kyle had left quite the mark on his collarbone), so he decided just to go back to school, shut the door, and refused to open it to anyone- especially Will when he knocked on the door. He doesn't know how they react, although that it is partially down to the fact that Dan isn't sure how he should react to this himself.

HE wishes he knew what the Hell just happened. He wishes he knew how on earth he got from barely knowing the boy to suddenly having his lips on his own and a developing love bite on his neck. Everything about the situation is strange, and Dan isn't quite sure how comfortable he is with it. He still hardly knows.

 

There is a tapping at Dan bedroom window which wakes him up in the early hours of the following morning. He isn't sure exactly what time it is, or what time he fell asleep, but he knows he should get up to see what it is tapping at his window, even though he knows it will be Woody and Charlie. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit scared of what it may be regardless.

"Kyle, what the-" he whispers, cocking an eyebrow as he reaches his window, staring at the boy in disbelief, only to find himself being shushed.

"Shh!" Kyle hisses, putting his finger to his lips. "It took me long enough to get past that blood patrolling prefect without him seeing me, so don't let him catch me now!" He rants, trying to push the window up even more so he can shimmy through it.

The other boy holds a picture confusion on his face. "How did you even know this was my room?" 

"Woody. Anyway, Dan- I really,  _really_ need to talk to you, so listen to me, okay? I  _love_ you! I love you and I hate that I love you because I know we barely know each other and you'll hate me because of my clique and how God damn horrible they can be, but I love you, and I love you more than anything, and all I want to do is kiss you. It's so ridiculous and I know you may not feel the same, but I just want you to know: I love you." 

Kyle's speech has a large effect on the other boy- a larger one than he could have ever prepared himself for. He hates the fact that Kyle loves him because he loves him back all the same, but he doesn't know him that well at all. He can't find the words to speak- she just takes Kyle's face gently in his hands and kisses him roughly.

Kyle kisses him back just as hard, pushing him towards the wall behind him. They share a lovely passionate moment, and Dan can't help but ignore everything in his mind that screams at him not to do this as he puts his hand up the front of Kyle's top and feels the boy return the favour by putting his hands down Dan's trousers since he didn't get the chance to take them off before he fell asleep. In response, Dan gives a shaky breath of permission.

 

"Dan, I love you," Kyle pants as he lies over Dan, his elbows supporting him as he puts his hands in his loves hair, his hot, heavy breaths heating the already warm room. They are staring at each other with such love in their eyes that the whole room and aura screams love and passion. "I love you so much, Baby." 

Both of them share a picture of pleasure on their face, their whole bodies overcome with a feeling they never want to forget. They never want this to end.

"I love you too, Kyle," Dan replies, biting his lip as Kyle shifts. Kyle has officially become the anchor that holds him down to this earth.

"Promise me you're not lying?" Kyle pleads innocently, somehow vulnerable, even though he currently holds the power and control over Dan. The other boy leans up and holds Kyle's face, bringing it slowly down to his own. 

"I promise, Kyle. I promise you the world." 

 

Dan can't deny that he feels sore the following morning. He can feel the dull ache in his body but the love that radiates him is stronger. He wishes he didn't have to feel so insecure about being with Kyle, but for the time being, that doesn't matter.

He reaches blindly around for his clothes as he dresses, pulling his jumper over his head. There are two things on his mind: Kyle, and toast. He's really hungry and didn't eat anything yesterday evening, so he can't wait to eat.

The cafeteria seems to quieten down as Dan walks into the diner, rubbing his eyes sleepily and yawning. He doesn't bother going to the line straight away because it's too long, so he decides to sit with his three friends.

"I'm s'tired," Dan yawns as he sits, not noticing the silence of the room or the absence of Kyle for that matter. "And hungry," he reaches over and takes a piece of toast off of Charlie's plate, but the boy doesn't bother stopping him, instead, his eyes are fixated on him. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?" 

"Uh, well..." Will starts talking but stops for a moment midway through. He points a finger at Dan's jumper. "Your... Your jumper." 

dan looks down, noticing the usual red of his jumper is replaced by that of the other boy's green jumper.

And his heart drops.

 


	10. Chapter Ten

The other three boys roar with laughter as they sit, gathered in Charlie's bedroom. Will and Dan are both lounging Charlie's bed, and Charlie and Woody sit on a makeshift sofa, compromised of pallets and a (very old, and broken) mattress. Will and Dan shouldn't be in there, but they snuck in regardless of the rules.

"I just can't believe you did that!" Woody has tears forming in his eyes from laughing, much like the other two boys. Dan doesn't find it quite as funny. "I mean, I know you wanted to get together and everything, but on the first night?  Damn, Smith! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed." 

Dan feels his cheeks warm with the all too familiar red rush, something he has been feeling a lot recently. The exchange of the jumpers had been quite strange- Dan walked back into his room in a flurry to find his own, to see it sat just beneath his window (he still has no idea how people manage to climb up to his window. It doesn't look easy at all), and had returned Kyle's by putting it in his regular seat in the diner as he 'went to the toilet' during lesson. 

"So, did you go all the way?" Charlie winks at the other boy, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. Most of Dan wishes he could disappear, hide away from the world so he doesn't have to answer these ridiculous questions.

"No, we just talked for a little bit, and then decided to swap jumpers for the laugh of it." Dan rolls his eyes, which causes laughter from Woody and Will, whereas Charlie just sticks out his tongue and shakes his head. 

"Alright, alright, funny man. Just answer me one question: Who topped?" 

"Alrighty, that's enough questions from Charles on the sofa," Woody pulls a disgusted face and shakes his head.

"Definitely Kyle." Will mumbles.

 

Kyle is playing basketball when someone brings Dan up. He hadn't been able to take the boy off of his mind as since he got back to his own dorm (and realised, in pure horror, it wasn't his green jumper he held in his hands). Everything about the boy is just so beautiful- his eyes, his hair, God, his entire body. Kyle never thought such perfection was possible.

"Yeah, the freak walked in with one of your lots green jumpers on," one of the boys says, nodding in Kyle's direction. "He's such a weirdo." 

"You don't know him, it could just have been a mix-up. And that does  _not_ make him a freak." He tries to hide his anger, his flushing cheeks, and his embarrassed grin by looking at the floor. He had hoped Dan would realise that he had taken the wrong jumper, however, he did not. 

"Well, he's a weirdo anyway," the other boy shrugs as he shots at the net and misses.  Kyle takes the ball. "He must have gotten that from somewhere, though. Don't you think?" 

"Hey, you don't know what happened for him to get that jumper, so let's not stand here and judge." The anger is beginning to show in Kyle's voice, but it's taken over him so much that he cannot stop himself. "Seriously, get your fucking head out your arse and fuck off," he throws the ball one-handed at the other boy, and it bounces once on the floor before he catches it.

"What is your fucking problem, Man?" The other boy demands, finally catching the attention of the rest of the team, who stop to listen. "Was it your fuckin' jumper or something, huh?" 

The two boys are stood chest to chest. The other boy is slightly shorter than Kyle but is probably much stronger than him. 

"I didn't say that, did I? I wouldn't fuck him, anyway. I'm not like you, who sticks his dick in anything that moves." Kyle shoves the other boy away from him, resulting in one of their teammates separating them. The only reason Kyle made the comment is because of an unfortunate incident with a ram that Kyle joked was because of the fact the boy was from Derby. They didn't talk much after that, but Kyle thought it was amazing.

"Guys, come on. Calm down," their teammate tells them, pushing the pair even further away from each other. You sit over there, and you sit over there. Take five minutes and then come and play when you're not being two little fuckings kids." 

 

The two boys find themselves back behind the shop at about five. Their faces are planted on each others again and there is nothing in the world that could ever pull them apart. They are two teenagers in love, and nobody can stop them now.

But Kyle is worried. He's worried because he loves Dan- obviously, he does- but he simply cannot. He got quizzed in the changing room whether or not it was his jumper since nobody saw him this morning and it was left on his chair in the diner ("I lost mine," he had told them, "It's not a big deal. It's a coincidence- God, as I told you, I don't even like boys!") But he was lying. He was lying, and he hates the fact he's lying. Saying that, there's a lot of things that Kyle hates nowadays.

"I love you, Kyle," Dan pants between sloppy kisses, before moving onto the boy's neck, leaving his mark there. "I love you so much." 

Kyle just hums- he doesn't want to say those words again. He doesn't want to dig himself a deeper hole than he's already in. But he does love Dan, he really does, and he doesn't want him to think otherwise. 

But there's two paths in front of him, and he can only walk one.

 


	11. Chapter Eleven

"Right, come on then, Electric Head. At least tell us how you got that green jumper?" Someone asks Dan when they're in chemistry, shortly before the teacher arrives. The whole class are silent and listening, something that only makes Dan feel even more self-conscious about himself (and the love bite on his neck, which he constantly fears someone will see).

Feeling incredibly embarrassed about his complete mess up in front of so many people, Dan fights against the rising heat in his cheeks and looks down at his desk. "A friend let me borrow it," he lies to his nosey classmates, praying that they'd all just give in. Will jumps in before anyone can say anything. 

"Woody and I trashed his by accident. The clothes shop- whatever it's called- let him borrow one 'till we got back to school to get another one." He tells them all, rolling his eyes at them and waving his hand in dismissal. "We weren't sure if he would be let into school because he didn't have his on. Just forgot to get a new one, right, Dan?" 

Dan grins down at his book, thankful that he doesn't have to think of a stupid excuse of his own that he would have undoubtedly forgotten before long and made a fool of himself even more. "Yeah," he agrees with quietly.

Nobody argues with Will, and they all fall quiet as the teacher walks in.

Will has always been pretty friendly with everyone at the school. He's been here longer than anyone else due to the unfortunate circumstances that landed him here, which means that everyone automatically sees him as some sort as an older brother- even those who are older than him view him in such a way. They just don't cause trouble with him.

An upside to being here is that he's also friendly with all of the teacher. Part of this was because they felt sorry for him, but we'll get into that in a minute. They all know him as the kind, the polite, the charismatic, but the sometimes cheeky teenager who is here all the time, and they all love him to pieces. He could pull off a prank on all the teachers far worse than Woody and Charlie could possibly come up with, and the teachers wouldn't care that much.

But the only reason he has that bond with the teachers is because of the fact he is here all year round. He has to spend Christmases, new years, birthdays, Summer holidays, and every other even with school. He never gets to leave the school which makes him feel isolated from everyone else his age until they get back. It also means he never has anyone to celebrate anything with. Every holiday is spent alone.

He wishes he did have his parents with him, still. He'd love to spend any other day with them, any day at all. Nevermind another Christmas or birthday.

He hates the holidays.

 

It's far past curfew when the two boys find themselves at the field. It had been unplanned and spontaneous, but they were just happy to be in each other's company again.

"I thought you were a prefect then," Kyle laughs nervously, keeping his voice in a hushed whisper. Everything about this seems so film-like and sneaky. It makes him want to laugh. "Don't sneak up on me like that." He puts his hands on Dan's haps and brings him into a kiss. Dan melts into it, but Kyle's heart hangs heavy.

The stars above them are shining brighter than ever, and Kyle feels guilty that he'll have to ruin such a magical view for Dan with what he's about to tell him.

"Dan, listen," he begins, taking a deep breath. He really doesn't want to do this, but he fears that this will only end in tears for the both of them if they don't do it. "We have to talk-" 

Dan cuts him off, "Lemme guess: You can't see me anymore because you're scared of what people will say or do, but you also love me too much to cut us off completely so you'll say that, but we'll land here again." 

Kyle stops speaking, his eyes widening slightly; that's exactly what he was going to say. Dan has got it down to a T.

"But that's the thing," Kyle shakes his head in denial. "I don't love you." 

"You're lying, you do love me." 

"Don't be stupid, Daniel. I can't love you." 

"Well, now you're lying to yourself." 

Dan watches Kyle's reaction, his reluctance to everything he says. His words are leafs, they'll blow away and be completely forgotten about. They carry no weight at all.

"I do love you." Kyle admits, looking down at the ground. "But I'm so scared, Dan. I'm scared because my clique are so fucking horrible towards you, and I can't-" 

"You can't what? Be seen with me? Let them know that you've, oh, you know, fucked me?" Dan scoffs and rolls his eyes, turning away from Kyle. "If you can't tell your shitty mates that, then how is this ever going to work?" 

"It's not that," Kyle insists. He knows Dan is right, though. "It's just-" 

"Shut the fuck up," Dan snaps and shakes his head, but he slips his hand into Kyles, turning back to face him. "I'm really annoyed at you right now. But that doesn't mean I don't love you." 

 


	12. Chapter Twelve

"So... Are you hungry at all?" Kyle asks curiously a few days later, as their final lessons draw to an end. They have some free time, so meet in the courtyard. Kyle has been nervous about this all day for some stupid reason- he puts it down to the conversation they had the other day, to the fact he told Dan he didn't love him. That was a ridiculous thing to say. Luckily, Dan didn't believe him.

"Yeah, can't wait for dinner," the older boy smiles, wondering what is for dinner tonight. He has grown used to the shitty tasting cafeteria food when he realises there was little else to eat unless you go into the town and get something. 

"Well good. Because I was thinking that maybe we could, uh, you know... Go and get something together?" The bearded boys watches for Dan's reaction, hoping he'll agree. He's been wanting to take him out since the first time they- well, you get the drift. "It could be a, a... Uh... A..." 

"A date?" Dan raises his eyebrows with a smile as he steps closer to Kyle. He doubts this entirely Kyle's idea, and he'd be surprised if the other three weren't involved in it somehow. "I'd love to." 

Honestly, Dan wasn't sure what he expected from this date, or even where they will be going. He knows there are no posh restaurants in the area (though he didn't want to go to one of them, anyway), and there seems to be mostly takeaways or pubs (which they won't be allowed in). Kyle, however, makes the most of what he has by buying a Chinese and leading Dan to somewhere he's never been- up one of the highest building tops there is.

The stares are beginning to shine brightly, contrasting to the dark blue eye that they sit in. Where the sun is setting in the distance, there are dark purples and pinks in the sky, lighting it up even more. It takes Dan's breath away, leaving him aghast.

"Woah..." He breathes, his warm breath forming a white cloud in front of him and he looks up towards the stars. His blue eyes are so full of wonder and amazement, scanning over each star in the sky and trying to recognise the constellations. The light remaining shines on Dan's face, and Kyle can see every detail of it. He can see the light dusting of freckles and Dan's wonky tooth, things he hadn't previously noticed. He can see the little wispy bits of his hair that doesn't quite stand up with the rest, and he can see the love bite he gave him hiding beneath a scarf. And he falls even more in love with the boy. "This is beautiful," 

Before he can stop himself, Kyle blurts out, "You're beautiful." Everything about the moment feels so magical, almost like a teen movie or something by Disney. "You're so fucking beautiful, Dan, more than you'll ever know. More than the stars, more than the sky. More than anything." 

Dan lowers his gaze to Kyle, his cheeks becoming pinker and pinker by the moment. He hates being complimented as it always leaves him with the same problem- brilliant red cheeks.

"No! Don't look at the floor, look at me! Look how fucking beautiful you are, Dan, look how blue your eyes are. God, Daniel, I never thought I could love somebody like this. It's cheesy!" Kyle says, gently placing his hand under Dan's head to make him look at him. "You're stunning." 

"Kyle- stop it," Dan shakes his head and laughs as he looks away from Kyle. He doesn't want to even know how red his cheeks are at the moment. "I'm not." 

"I wish you could see yourself from my eyes, Danny. You're completely irresistible." Kyle plants his lips on Dan's and they stay like that for a few moments.

 

They eat their food and watch the sky and the people around them as they move, the crowds slowly slimming until there are only one or two people left. They are out far past curfew, but neither of them could care less.

"This is the best night." Kyle says, lying down and resting his head on Dan's lap once they are done eating. "This is a brilliant night." 

Dan smiles, running his hands through Kyle's hair and looking longingly into his eyes. He hates how soppy their relationship has become, but at the same time, he loves it. It feels like he's in his own teen film. It's only up from here.

"I really do love you, Dan. And I know what I said the other night, but I mean this now and always will: I love you. I love you more than anyone can love anyone, and you're my favourite person," Kyle grins, watching the boy with wondrous eyes.

"Stop being so cheesy. But I love you too." Dan smiles, moving to the boy's fingers and toying with them. "And I mean that."

"Good, because this leads me on to my next question," Kyle feels nervous. He feels almost sick with nerve.

"What's that, then?" Dan seems completely oblivious as he runs his hands through Kyle's hair.

"Will you be my boyfriend?"


	13. Chapter Thirteen

"So, you and Kyle, huh?" Will teases, smirking at Dan the following day. Dan just smiles, feeling the familiar rush of warmth in his cheeks. He hates how quickly and easily he can go red. "You're so in love with him, I'm pretty sure a blind man can see it." 

"I'm scared though, Will," the other boy sighs as he pulls out a handful of grass from the ground. He wishes they could just be accepted and who they love, but at this rate, it feels like it will never be like that. "He told me his clique won't be happy about it." 

"Well, who has to find out?" Will shrugs, almost carelessly. "It's not their affairs if you go out with Kyle, or anyone else. If they're his true friends, they'll support him with whoever he chooses to go out with." 

"That's not it, though. They don't like  _me._ They think I'm a freak or something, so they don't necessarily care that it's because he likes boys." The birds above them sing, and everything feels slightly more refreshed. "It's because it's  _me._ Not the fact I'm a boy, it's because I'm a freak." 

Will, on the other hand, immediately feels angry at the boys. At Kyle. "Who gives a fuck what they think, Dan? Show them that you love him, fucking snog him in the middle of school if that's what it takes. Just don't put up with little arseholes like them." He rants, shaking his head. He hates people like that. "If he does love you, Dan, he wouldn't even be worried." 

 

Kyle sits in biology, waiting for the teacher to arrive and trying to stop himself from falling asleep. These lessons just get so boring and repetitive, even when the teacher comes in half way through the lesson. He has never been a fan of biology anyway, it's never interested him any more than watching paint dry has. He'd prefer to be in music all day with Dan. He's glad he can finally call him his boyfriend 

"Oi, Kyle, we've got a plan," one of his friends, Nathaniel, tells Kyle, leaning over his desk to talk to him quietly. Kyle isn't really sure how they ever became friends, or even if they had a choice in the first place. Either way, he doesn't much like him. "We're planning on jumping Electric Head after school." 

"Lay a finger on him, if you fucking dare," Kyle glares at the boy as he hisses out his comment, "and I will personally fucking kill you." 

Nathaniel just laughs. "Alright, funny guy. Jokes over. You in then, or not?" 

"I'm being serious, Nath. Do not touch him." Kyle glares at the boy with eyes that radiate hatred and warning. He would start a riot of anyone lay a finger on Dan.

"God, what is up with you?" Nathan begins, but Kyle cuts him off. 

"I'm just not a fucking bully like the rest of you. You don't have to be friends with someone to be a decent person and not beat the shit out of them." Kyle hates him right now, and he would quite like to punch him himself. "I would have expected something better. Especially from  _you."_

"Yeah, and what, then? Is it cause you've fucked him or something?" 

"It doesn't matter if I have or if I haven't. That's not your business, nor is it anyone else's. Just stay away from him because if anyone hurts him, I'll kill all of you." 

 

Will and Dan watch their other two friends from a distance as they fiddle with something that looks suspiciously like a firecracker in their hands. Will can't help but feel concerned about them, because, whilst they do look small and harmless, if a firecracker goes off in your hand, you can say goodbye to your entire hand. 

"They're going to get hurt." He tells Dan, shaking his head and feeling slightly sick at the idea of either of them getting hurt. "Even if you tell them, they're like kids and they just won't stop." 

Dan just shrugs as he watches the pair. They have come up with yet another 'fool proof' plan, which involves sticking a firecracker in the door frame to the main entrance of the main school building. By doing this, it'll break the door. Apart from that, not much else will be achieved.

Charlie reaches up and jams the firecracker just above the hinge on the door, balancing it in a way so that it is trapped.

"We should stop them..." Dan mumbles, almost a whine. He knows this is going to go one of two ways.

"They wouldn't stop." Will replies, shrugging. He wishes they would listen. "Guys, you're going to get hurt."

"No we won't!" Charlie shouts back, shaking his head. Woody reaches up with a lighter to light it.

"At least stand away from it," Will says as the two scamper off and watch from a distance. Will and Dan watch it.

And watch it.

And watch it.

And nothing happens.

"Go and check it out," Charlie tells Woody, giving him a light shove in that direction. "See if you lit it up properly,"

"Do not go near it," Will tells them, suddenly feeling even worse at the idea that it hasn't worked at all which means it could go off when anyone is walking past. But Will's comments are ignored as the two debate more.

"You go," Woody tells Charlie, "You have thinner fingers than me,"

So Charlie goes. He walks over to the door, and, stood about two feet away from it, lifts his hand up to check it.

That's when it goes off.

 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Dan has Charlie's head resting on his lap as Will tries his best to stop the bleeding on his hand, wrapping his jumper around it and using his own belt to hold it tight, all whilst telling him that he is stupid and lucky that he hasn't lost all of his hand. Woody has to run to find a teacher or a prefect, somebody to call an ambulance from him. There's blood everywhere, dripping through the jumper and onto the floor. Will's hands are red from it. 

"Are you okay? Apart from your hand, do you feel sick? Dizzy?" Dan questions the boy, looking at his face. There are blood splatters and burns everywhere. Everything about the situation feels like a horror film, like nothing will get better. 

Charlie coughs, his voice weak and hoarse. "I feel pretty shit," he says with a breathless laugh, trying to hide the pain on his face or in his voice. "But, I tell you, if I'm laughing, Smith, I'm okay..." There's a pause as Charlie blinks a few times, each one lasting longer than the last. Dan worries that he's going to pass out (it wouldn't surprise him. He's gone awfully pale). "I fucked up, huh?" 

Dan nods, lightly running his hand through Charlie's hair. He's a bit afraid to touch any part of his face, because everything looks so sore. "Don't go to sleep," he tells him quietly, "We have to make sure you're okay." 

The wounded just nods, biting his lip in pain. His facade breaks, and tears quickly form in his eyes. "My hand hurts so much, Danny..." He mumbles in pain, skin growing even paler. Will is continuing to try and help as much as he can, whilst mumbling under his breath about where the bloody Hell Woody is. 

"Of course it does, Charlie. You almost blew it off," with a chuckle, Dan shakes his head. "You should listen to people when they tell you not to do something." 

Charlie coughs, "I blame Woods, I do. He told me to. It looked so harmless and..." 

Woody runs up the stairs with two teachers right on his heel. One of them is on the phone and the other practically sends Will flying as he pushes him out of the way to look at the damage done to Charlie's hand. 

"If you take that off of him," Will warns him, not letting go of Charlie's hand, "It'll carry on bleeding. This is the only way that he's not going to lose his whole finger." 

 

"The point is, Woody, I told you both not to do it. I told you not to muck around with explosives, so what do you do? You send Charlie,  _Charlie!_ To go and poke a bloody firecracker. Are you stupid? Are you out of your mind?! Why did you not listen to me?" Will yells at Woody as they stand in the hospital corridor. One of the teachers had taken the three boys to the hospital following the ambulance. 

"Boys, quieten down," the teacher comments, sitting on the chair next to them. He doesn't look exactly bothered right now. "It was an accident, these things, they happen." 

"No, they don't just happen!" Will says, "If they weren't always trying to destroy the place, none of this would have happened!" 

"Don't have a go at me when Charlie could have lost his whole hand, and still might lose half of his fingers." Woody rolls his eyes at him, clearly angry at the fact that Will is pinning all of this on him. "What has happened has happened, Will. You cannot change the past." 

"No, I will have a go! You sent him to do it in the first place, so yes, this  _is_ your fault! If you weren't trying to destroy the school, he wouldn't be in there, would he?" 

Woody begins to lose his temper as Dan rounds the corner from calling Kyle on the payphone. He had to call main reception to get through to him, and Kyle says he's now on his way. 

"Look, Will; Just because you mope around because you have to stay at school all year round doesn't mean no one else can have fun. Don't pin your depressing ass life on us, alright?" 

There is a thick tension in the room as Will tries to swallow his anger. Dan can see the flicker of pain on the boys face before he speaks, his voice even calmer than before. Even the teacher is in shock from what Woody had said. 

"There's having fun, then there's almost killing someone." He hisses, glaring at Woody, who has tears of his own in his eyes. Will looks as though he may cry, and although both boys storm off in opposite directions, one towards the front of the hospital and one towards the outside area, Dan doesn't know who to follow.

 

"He doesn't get it though," Will says, tears falling down his face. "He doesn't know how hard it is. Not when he's the football star, all-rounder, Mr I-Can-Do-Anything. He doesn't get what it's like to not have your parents there, to not go home for the holidays, to have absolutely  _no-fucking-body_ in the whole world. It's fucking hard." 

Dan just nods in agreement. He can't say at all that he understands, because he really doesn't. He doesn't know how it feels to not have your parents there. He's had his for his entire life, so he cannot relate to what Will is saying. "What... What happened after?" He asks, "Like, when you go here. When you settled down. How did you feel?" 

"I was depressed as fuck, Dan. I was suicidal. I didn't see the point of being alive anymore- I was stuck here, no future in sight, and watching all of your school friends go home at Christmas and brag about what their parents got them. Nobody was even here when I first was. I had nobody. I was alone." Will takes a deep breath, trying to calm his hitching voice. "I still think about it, though. I could end it all any day, right here, right now. I'd be with them again. We'd be happy." 

Before anyone else can speak, Kyle rounds the corner with Woody under his arm, wrapped around him in a supportive manner. "Well, the good news is that Charlies lost practically nothing apart from, like, the tip of his finger." He tells them. "And a few burns here and there. Like on his entire hand. Few on his face." 

 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Dan and Kyle lie in Dan's room with the door shut. The clock on the wall hits twelve, but the pair of them aren't tired at all, only oddly sick. Everyone else found out about what happened, and had since fallen quiet, going to bed far earlier than usual in shock that the prank had not only failed, but gone so wrong so badly. Even worse that it was Charlie, someone many people adored. 

"Woody was so upset," Kyle whispers to Dan, his arm wrapped around the other boy. He lies on his back, whereas Dan is resting on his chest. "He was sobbing his heart out at the entrance of the hospital when I arrived- fucking Hell, I thought Charlie had died or something. He told me he knows it was his fault and he hates himself for it. He also hates the fact he took it all out on Will." 

Dan nods, closing his eyes momentarily. "Yeah, they both stormed off in opposite directions. Think Will needed me more than Woody, though." 

"I don't really understand what's happened, though. What did Woody say to Will to make both so upset? It must have been bad." 

This is really a question for Dan to answer. It's not his gossip to be sharing with everyone- if Will wanted to tell people what happened to him and his parents, then he would tell them himself. Dan shouldn't be making that decision for him. 

Charlie has been kept in hospital overnight just so they can monitor him and make sure nothing happens. Everyone is relieved that he is okay (and far beyond happy that he still has his hand), but nobody can believe how lucky he is that he hasn't lost even a finger. All the legal things that need to be done have been done, and Charlie admitted it was his fault and school were not to blame to stop the school getting bad press. 

"It's really personal, so it's not really my thing to tell you," Dan says, kissing the base on his boyfriend's neck. He can't be bothered to do anything but lie here with Kyle tonight, but he's so happy that he just came running when Dan asked him to. There are many flaws with Kyle, but he loves him nonetheless.

 

"Christopher, you can't just pull  _'pranks'_ like that!" The headmaster yells at Woody as Dan, Will, Woody, and Kyle stand in his office the following day. "Not only are you destroying school property, but you are endangering people- accidents can and will happen, Charlie being the prime example!" 

"With all due respect, Sir, we didn't even expect it to go off-" Woody begins, but the headmaster slams his hand down onto his desk, stunning everyone into silence.

"I don't care! I don't care if you didn't think it was going to go off, but you send Charlie up there to look what happened! Isn't that enough of a close call to tell you to grow up and stop being so bloody childish? Harmless pranks are fire- putting hot sauce in someones food, or moving someone's chair before they sit down, that's fine, I don't care. But explosives? God, you're stupid to even think of doing that." He turns to Will with fire in his eyes, anger flowing through his body. "And you, William? I expected better from you. I expected you to at least stop them from being that stupid. You hang around with them, don't you?" 

"Yes, Sir. But I did tell them. I told them, and they did it anyway. It isn't my job to police them, that's the prefects jobs, the people you pay to stop people from doing that stuff." Will has argument in his voice, and his three friends nod along with him.

"Is it not common knowledge to stop them from doing that?" He roars back at him, stepping forwards towards Will as he screams. "That could have killed him, Will. And you, more than anyone else in this school, should know what it's like to lose someone close to you. Or did you not learn from that, either?" 

"As he said, Sir, he tried to stop them." Kyle steps in, finding the head's attitude towards Will completely unacceptable. The comment had taken them all by surprise. "He tried to stop them from doing this, and if they didn't listen, that's not his fault. It's completely inappropriate to make a comment like that, especially without knowing what happened. I think you should be dishing out punishments rather than trying to pin the blame on anyone but your staff, especially when it is their job to stop something like that." 

The tension in the room is so thick that it suffocates the room. Dan is shocked that Kyle has stood up so fiercely for Will when he doesn't even know what the comment was about (although he now has the vague gist of it), and Will is on the verge of crying. Woody is just angry.

"Fine, fine. If you want punishment, Simmons, I'll give you your bloody punishment. Ten-hour detention, two hours after school on a Friday for five weeks for you. Christopher, five-hour detention, one hour after school on a Friday for five weeks, and same goes for Smith and Farquarson."

"What did Dan do?" Kyle frowns, "He had nothing to do with it. Neither did I!" 

"You wanna make that fifteen hours?" The head threatens.

"Well, I might be free but I'll have to check," Kyle mumbles, shaking his head. Dan tells him to just leave it. Realistically, Dan knows he has detention for the same reason as Will. Kyle probably has it because he argued back. 

"Now. Get out of my office." 

 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Will and Kyle are quiet as they sit on the school playing field later that evening, as the sky turns a bright shade of orange and the trees appear almost black in their silhouettes. Everyone else had gone back to the dorms, including Woody and Dan, but Kyle knows Will is upset and he doesn't want to leave him here all alone.

"You really didn't need to do that," the older of the boys says to the younger, staring out across the field. He has a pen which he spins in his hands, but he doesn't once look down at it. "Honestly, I didn't even expect you, of all people, to get involved with us. But, thanks. I guess. For making Dan happy. For sticking up for me. More than I can thank you for, really." 

Kyle watches the boy with interest in his eyes. He looks at the way he slouches forward, the way his eyes are almost glazed over with a carelessness and a lack of attention. Although he doesn't mention it, the looks frightens Kyle a little bit. It's not one he's used to seeing on Will's face.

"Well, isn't it what every person with some sort of decency in them would have done? Even if my clique hates the idea of me being friends with you guys. I don't care. Besides, you're way better than them, and I love Dan. I really do, I think the world of him. I adore him." Kyle takes a short moment to think about his boyfriend, to refresh the image of him in his head. "Anyway, what Chambers said to you was completely out of order." 

"Well, not that you even know what you were sticking up for me for," the lack of enthusiasm towards everything since the four of them left the office is reflecting in his voice. He sometimes wonders if all of this is actually worth it, if it is worth being  _that_ kid. He often doesn't think so.

When the comment registered in Will's mind, he was immediately engulfed by the suffocating loneliness and depression, which usually only shows its face in the darker hours. It felt like the world was going against him again, like the person he looked up to the most just turned his back. 

Kyle just hums in response. He's curious, of course he is, but he has to respect that Will probably won't want to tell him. He shouldn't feel like he has to, either. Kyle wants him to be comfortable before he tells him, and Kyle knows he doesn't have the best reputation, so even if that means he will never find out. But-

"My parents are dead. To put that simply, this is my home now." He says quickly, squeezing his eyes shut as though if he did it tight enough it could take him somewhere else entirely. Kyle wonders if this is the first time he's admitted it to himself and said it aloud. "Yeah. Will Faruqarson: Orphan, depressed, loser, freak. Here I am." 

The words take all the thought and words from Kyle, sending him into a stunned silence. He had a vague idea what happened, but he didn't really expect it to be that.

"Well, I don't think you're a loser." He tells Will with a shake of his head. "Or a freak. You can't help these things when they happen, Will. Sometimes, as bad and as horrible as it is, they happen, and there is nothing you can do about it. So why take it out on yourself?" 

Will just huffs in denial, closing his eyes. "I was arguing with them, when it happened. We would have seen the car if they did. It makes you think though, what if I could just join them? I miss them like a limb; every time something happens I want them to be proud of me, my Mum and Dad. But they will never be proud of me, because it's my fault they're not here.  _I_ basically killed them. I wish I was with them, Kyle. I do every day. I wish I had died, too." 

Silent tears stream down Will's face as he drops his head, looking down at the floor. Kyle feels a hit in his chest, almost pity. 

"Don't think like that, Will. Think about all the good things you have achieved- you have me, Dan, Charlie, and Woody. We wouldn't be friends if we didn't know you. Hell, Dan thinks the world of you. He's told me how much he appreciates everything you have done for him. And God knows you have put up with enough of Woody and Charlie's shit to last a lifetime!" Kyle tells him, wrapping his arm around Will's shoulders. "Your parents would be beyond proud of you, Will. I'm sure they are." 

 

"Yeah, I almost lost, like, all of my hand! I was in theatre for hours!" Charlie boasts the next day when he is back at school, showing everyone his hand, which is wrapped in thick bandages. The others are relieved to have him back to his old, joking self.

"Yeah! I ain't ever going to do that again!" School finished half an hour ago, and somehow he already has half the school's signatures on his cast, including that of his four best friends, one of which is Kyle, who has moved over to their group only to be teased by his old clique. Woody and Will had to stop a fight at one point.

"He's never going to shut up about that now, is he?" Woody laughs, making the others nod. They feel a little bit like their imitating The Breakfast Club by standing against the lockers.

"I mean, I don't think I would if I almost lost my hand," Dan smiles, gently slipping his hand into Kyle's, hiding it behind them so nobody can see. "But it's going to get annoying."

"It's a shame he couldn't lose his tongue, huh?" Kyle jokes, making the group laugh.

None of them have been happier.

 


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Kyle makes sure he looks out for Will in the following weeks, always checking in on him and making sure he himself opens up to more things to Will. At the end of the day, Will opened up about the worst thing that has happened to him, the worst thing that could happen to, and what that almost lead to. Kyle would have thought it unfair if he didn't open up himself back.

Thankfully, the taunting from his old 'friends' had died down, now, even though it almost ended with yet another fight. Kyle wonders why he was ever even friends with them horrible lot in the first place, they were never worth it.

He feels sorry for Will. He hates that he feels that way, because he knows he shouldn't. Will doesn't want pity at all, so  _why_ does he feel sorry for him? He supposes, really, it's just the thought of losing the people you love the most, the people who are supposed to guide you through life and make sure you age with grace. It pains Kyle. He wishes he could just wrap the older boy up in his arms and just  _apologise_ for how shitty the world is, apologise that it was him it had to happen to. It really makes him wonder how people can have so much faith in humanity when bad things such as this happen.

 

As half-term approaches, there is a sense of excitement and freedom that hangs around the students. They cannot wait to be out of this place, but Will thinks the opposite. He wishes half-terms weren't even a thing. At least that way, he'd feel slightly normal. Dan, Kyle, Woody, and Charlie are buzzing, this means there would be a break from their detentions for once.

Woody meets his friends by the cafeteria at the end of school, and the five of them leave to start heading towards the bleaches on the playing field, somewhere they always end up.

"You know," he begins with a smile on his face. The others know this is either going to end in a brilliant idea or a foolish prank. "I've been thinking." 

There is a mutual understanding over them that there will no longer be any pranks that are quite as extreme as the firecracker prank, but the school would be stupid to think that Woody and Charlie's trouble-causing side is completely gone.

"Our two-week half-term is coming up," he grins, watching for the boys' reactions. 

"I can't wait to go home." Kyle grins, but that grin drops when he looks to Will, and shuts up immediately.

Dan, on the other hand, also can't  say anything. He's dreading going home, seeing his mum and his step-dad. He's not thought about them in quite a while, although this is mainly because he refuses to let himself. 

Charlie is same. The only reason he is here is that his parents just couldn't cope with how much trouble he caused at home. He was constantly getting into trouble at school, and it even resulted in the police being called a few times. He doesn't want to go back there, where they may as well have a banner streamed across the front door that reads  _NO FUN ALLOWED AT ANY TIME._

"My mum says that I can have a few friends stay over during it, if you want. Well, she said a few, which I presume means two, but I'll take it as meaning all of you." Woody grins, his whole body flowing with positivity and charisma. "It'll be great! My family are really chilled out, you'll love them!" 

The group grins, apart from Will. He doesn't feel as though he is included in this. 

"Really?" Dan grins, his eyes lighting up with optimism. He can't wait to  _not_ see his parents. "That'd be so awesome! Will she mind?" 

Woody shakes his head, "Of course not," He smiles, "She'll just be glad to have a houseful again. Oh, and, Willers, that means you, too. You're part of my little family too, you know?" 

 

The hot, deep, heavy pants from the young couple fill the older boy's bedroom as they move together on his bed, lips and souls connected as they have never been before, each movement more passionate than the last. There is an overwhelming feeling of love that hangs in the air that neither can deny nor ignore, a steamy passion that just tells the boys that they are meant to be together. 

When they are finished, Kyle holds Dan close to him, almost as though he would lose him if he let go. Their bodies are covered in a thin film of sweat and they take deep breaths.

"I love you so, so much," Dan tells Kyle, putting his hand on his chest and tasting the sweat on Kyle's chest as he kisses it. "I love you more than my stupid brain has the words to say." 

Kyle gives a breathless laugh as he wraps his arm around Dan, staring up at the ceiling. "I love you, too. You're honestly the best thing about this place. I'd still be with those assholes if it wasn't for you." 

"I'd thank Woody- he was the one who got us together," Dan chuckles, his eyelids feeling heavy. "Thank God he did." 

Kyle shuts his own eyes, moving himself into a more comfortable position.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

"But Mu-um!" Woody complains into the phone as they stand outside the local fish and chip shop, all five of them gathered around the payphone to try and hear the conversation. "That's not fair. You can't expect me to pick two out of four of them! It's like trying to choose which puppy you'd take home. Besides, Mum, they're all really quiet. You wouldn't even know they're there." 

Charlie scoffs at the comment- they are not quiet. Even Will laughs quietly at the inaccuracy of the comment, whereas Kyle and Dan just look at each other.

"Did he just compare us to puppies?" Kyle asks, cocking an eyebrow.

"Okay. Okay. So, you'll pick us up on Saturday morning? Okay, great. Thanks, Mum! Love you!" Woody hangs up the phone with a victorious smile on his face. He turns around and smirks at the other boys. "Success!" 

The small group give a cheer with the knowledge that they don't have to go to their own homes now. As a matter of face, Kyle isn't even sure how he got in on all of this, but he is here regardless. 

As they begin to head away from the chip shop and to a destination unknown, Kyle hangs back a little bit, so he walks next to Will. In front of them, the others laugh with each other.

"You alright?" He questions the boy, keeping his voice low so they don't draw any attention to themselves and their conversation. He noticed how weirded out Will looks about the entire situation, however, Kyle doesn't blame him much.

In turn, the other boy nods, keeping his eyes cast down and at the pavement beneath them both. "Yeah," he says, "Just... I don't know. I find it weird that I'm not actually going to be at school for half-term this time. I'm not going to be alone." 

 _Alone._ For the past few years, if you had asked him to use any word to describe himself, Will would use that word before any other. He didn't really have any friends until Woody came along- and that was only about a year before now. He hates the fact he has been alone all of this time, but that won't stop him from appreciating what he has now.

Kyle nods in understanding. He hadn't really thought of Will much before he became friends with any of the group. Will was the quiet boy, the one nobody really gave the time of day too. He wishes he had spoken to him, not swanned around pretentiously, being the centre of his own universe. God, why was he ever like that?

"I'm looking forward to it," Kyle smiles at him, trying to give him a more optimistic outlook. "I'm sure it'll be great, anyway." 

"I think it will, too. And hopefully, Charlie won't die," he chuckles, which makes Kyle laugh, too. Charlie turns around, raising his eyebrows at the pair.

"Even though I didn't hear the most of that sentence, I did hear that part," he tells them with a knowing smile on his face. "And quite frankly, Farquard, I actually plan on losing a leg this time." 

 

"You guys are the cutest," Woody tells Dan and Kyle as they sit on a hill not very far from the school, sitting in front of the others. The sun is setting in the distance, and the couple sit next to each other, Dan's head on Kyle's shoulder, their silhouettes contrasting against the bright orange of the evening sky.

"Shut up," Kyle laughs, resting his head against Dan's own head, some of Dan's hair rubbing against his face. In the grass, their hands are entwined. Woody quickly snaps a quick picture of them on the Polaroid camera he owns.

"I mean it. I really think you two make a good couple," he smiles.

"Why don't you just marry them?" Charlie laughs, plucking a handful of grass from the ground and throwing it at Woody, who does the same in return. 

"Well, actually, I'll have you know that I have my eyes on a very good looking girl, thank you very much.  _And_ she likes me back, so  _there."_ His voice is full of pride and cockiness as he smiles at the other boys, clearly pleased with himself. 

"Oh, I'm flattered! But unfortunately, I lack the parts which labels me a girl," Charlie  tells his friend, "If you really like me like you say you do, Woods, you should have just told me." When he puckers his lips, the group laughs with him. 

"I love you, Charlie, but she's stolen my heart," he smiles, a lovesick smile. "Her name is Chrissy." 

Will stares at Woody. "Wait... So... Chrissy, and... And Chris?" Woody sheepishly nods at Will, who bursts into laughter. Even Dan and Kyle laugh at them.

"Oh, come on, it's not that funny!" Will has tears in his eyes as he laughs, and a smile tugs at Woody's lips. "And besides, I don't know what you two are laughing at. At least our ship name will be something that isn't insanely stupid- like CHRIS! Not Dyle..." 

"Oh my God, you've really thought about their ship name," Charlie giggles, beginning to get the hiccups. "You really do like them both being a couple, don't you?" 

"I could live with our ship name being Dyle," Kyle has a smile on his face as he winks at the other boy, leaning over and kissing him. "I love you." 

"Didn't you show him that you loved him enough last night?" Will questions, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, making the two in question go bright red. "Even  _I_ heard it." 

 

Kyle and Dan remain on the hill long after the sun has set and the other three head back. They watch the planes leave them in the small, isolated town to go to better, happier places. Their eyes scan the starts to see if they can point out any constellations, although Dan tells Kyle it's still a bit too bright to see any.

"I always remember Orion's belt." It's hard to see each other in the dark, but Kyle raises his hand to point at the three stars, years and years and years away from them. "It's the only one I could ever see when I was younger." 

A chilly breeze blows past and the clouds that were on the sidelines of the picture begin to float over the stars, blocking them from view.

 "Stars are so cool," Dan yawns, giving up on looking for any shooting stars. The fact they won't see any is quite disappointing. "They're so far away..." 

Kyle turns his head so he's looking at Dan. "My star is right next to me." 

"That's fucking gay and cringe." Dan frowns, but his cheeks heat up so much he's afraid they may begin to produce light. He continues to stare up at the clouds above.

"That's true, you got me there." He says, a slight chuckle escaping his lips. "Shit." 

"What, you only just realised you're gay or something?" Kyle laughs loudly at his boyfriend, who shakes his head.

"No, you idiot. It's raining." 

 


	19. Chapter Nineteen

When Kyle and Dan make it back to Dan's dorm, they are in fits of giggles and soaking wet with rain. Dan's hair hangs over his forehead and a bit over his eyes, and the sight of him, like an adorable wet puppy, makes Kyle fall deeper in love with him. In his eyes, everything about Dan is a work of art, almost as if God himself had stood there and sculpted him.

As they walk back inside, back into the heated hallway with the cracked walls, creaking floorboards, and stairs that sound like they could collapse at any given moment, there is a prefect waiting for them.

"Boys? You're a bit late back for curfew..." Suspicion is written on his face as he looks at the pair, one of which isn't even supposed to be in the walls of that dorm. For a moment, both of their hearts stop beating.

"The bus broke down, and we didn't realise how late it was," Dan lies with an innocent smile on his face, "We got back as soon as we could, though. They told us that a replacement bus was coming, but by the time it would come, it would be later than it is now, so we walked it." 

"Oh, yeah?" He crosses his arms, clearly not believing their foolish lies. It's very unlikely he will challenge it, however, since they can barely be bothered to do anything half the time.

"Yeah. We promise." Dan runs his hand through his hair and slicks it back with the water from the rain, "I'm sorry we are this late." 

"And what's he doing here, then? This is not your dorm." He glares at Kyle, who is like a deer in the headlights. 

"I-I... I wanted to make sure he got back okay." He goes with the first thing that comes to mind (well, the first thing that he wouldn't get in trouble for saying), and hopes for the best. "I couldn't just leave him in the darkness and the rain, so..." 

"Well. He's here, now. So off you go. I'll pretend to believe you this once." 

When the prefect gestures to the door, Kyle rolls his eyes, but says goodbye to his boyfriend and leaves, the prefect following him, turning the lights off along the way.

"That was close." 

A voice from the darkness makes Dan scream, albeit reasonably quietly, jumping out of his skin. He likes to think he'd be the type of man to punch someone who scares him, but that is simply not the case. 

"Will! You scared the daylights out of me!" The boy's heart thumps in his chest. "I about had a heart attack..." 

Will laughs quietly, quieter than the creaking pipes in the walls. "I'm sorry. I was waiting up for you in my room 'cause he quizzed me when I came in about where you were, but I said I didn't know. What were you two doing and why are you soaking?" He hesitates, "Wait, no... Don't answer that." 

"It's not that! We were just looking up and planes and stuff, and then it started raining." Dan shakes his head, "We stayed there for a bit because we would have gotten soaked either way." 

Will shrugs, winking at him. "I know what you two get up to." 

 

 

"Are you lot ready?" Woody's mum smiles sweetly at the boys as they gather in the car park of the school, backpacks packed. All they have bought is clothes since they can leave everything else here since all the doors are locked.

Most of the other kids couldn't wait to leave, so they all went yesterday as soon as they could. Consequently, the car park isn't as busy as it usually would be.

Charlie taps his pocket. "Actually," he says, "I think I might have left something in my room. Mind if I go and get it?" His smile is sweet and innocent, and Mrs Wood nods. He grabs Woody as he goes with him to get what he thinks he has left.

"Fucking Hell, your mum is well fit." Charlie tells his best friend, gazing at him. Woody stops walking.

"That's so gross..." Woody's face scrunches up in disgust. Of all the comments to come from Charlie, he really didn't expect that. "Please don't say that to me again." 

Charlie wraps his arm around the boy, pulling him along. "She is though, I'm just being honest!" 

"But it's better if you don't." 

 

Kyle and Dan sit in the far back of the people carrier, telling each other stupid jokes and stories and crying in laughter, so much so that even Woody's mum asked them what they were laughing about (despite it being a stupid joke). For the first hour or so of the trip, they spent it sleeping. Kyle had his head resting on Dan's lap, and they held hands subconsciously.

"What did one cell say to its sister when she steps on its toe?" Dan giggles like a child, looking at Kyle with a cheesy grin on his face. Kyle just grins back as waits for the reply. "Mitosis." 

They burst into laughter, and Woody turns around. "That wasn't even funny." Charlie, on the other hand, giggles at it.

Mrs Wood smiles to herself, laughing quietly. "You lot are a bunch of children." 

"Just these two. They have a combined mental age of ten..." The drummer looks out the window at the passing fields and scenery. The boys are just happy to have left the boring school, and the crappy town.

"My maths tells me that I'm seven and you're three," the older of the pair says to the younger with a sickly sweet smile, despite the comment.

"Well, yeah. That's about right, honestly." Kyle smiles with a nod. 

"I tell you, mother, they are the children of the group." 

 


	20. Chapter Twenty

The first few days spent at the Wood family home had been full of adventures. Since he lives in Plymouth, on the South Coast, they spent a lot of time exploring the coastline and swimming in the sea. Woody and Charlie, of course, had been planning several pranks (none of which involved any chances of losing any limbs), and it often resulted in either Dan or/and Kyle finding themselves in an awkward predicament.

Today, on the first Thursday of half-term, they have decided to explore a little bay they discovered that even Woody hadn't seen before. It looked pretty abandoned, so the group decided to head down.

"To say we're in the UK, this looks really nice." The sand is damp beneath Charlie's feet as he walks closer to the water so they can sit in the sun, Kyle and Dan in silence at the back, holding hands. They love how close they can be in public now.

"Well, we are in Plymouth, so that answers everything." Woody beams with pride at his home county, somewhere he has and will always love. "Anyway, I'm going in the water. Anyone else?" 

Charlie immediately takes him up on the offer, and so does Will. They sprint down the beach after Charlie challenges them to a race, but Dan an Kyle refuse, instead deciding to stay on the warm sand, just sitting with each other.

"This is great," Kyle says to Dan, resting his head on his shoulder. Dan's hair has gone sea curly, and Kyle thinks it's a really good look on him. "I'm having a really good time."

"What did you used to do during half-term?" The shorter of the pair asks, staring at the other three as they dive into the ocean. He has always been curious about the other boy and what his home life is like.

"Nothing," he shrugs. "Went home. Stayed in my room, didn't speak to anyone. Went back as if I had never actually left." Kyle doesn't really care much about his family, in the same way he believes they don't care about him.

"Why?" Dan places his hand into Kyle's and squeezes it, savouring every moment they spend together. There is nothing he loves more than being with Kyle, and he feels like he could tell that to anyone right now.

"Well, we just don't really care about each other. The only reason I'm here is because I found it difficult to open up to any of them. They saw this as a weakness and decided this would help fix me. Dunno what they wanted to fix, but... I'm not too bothered about ever seeing them again, so..." This story is the exact opposite to that he usually tells his other friends. To them, he had a great family. He went to theme parks and existed in a fantasy he wished, at the time, was the reality. But now? Now he has Dan, so he has someone he feels comfortable opening up to.

Dan doesn't quite know how to reply to this, but he wraps his arm around Kyle, kissing the top of his head (well, he tries to). "I'm sorry to hear that," he says, "I'm glad we're here now, though. Together." 

"So am I," Kyle smiles, his cheeks going red as he feels Dan's lips linger on his head. He loves him more than anyone in the world, especially at this moment. "What are your family like?"

"They were great. Honestly, I couldn't flaw them at all. We did everything together- my dad and I got on great, but when he left, it all went to Hell. My step-dad came along and we just fought and argued all the time. He found Foxhill and gave my mum the choice: either I leave, or he does. Of course, in every sob story, the mum never chooses their kid, so..." Dan's frown turns into a laugh as he looks at Kyle, moving so they both lie down. "But I'm petty as fuck so I'm not going back." 

Silence descends upon them as they just lounge around with each other, light fingers trailing across patches of exposed, pale skin, just holding each other.

"You two are so gay it's adorable." Charlie giggles as he approaches the pair. "Anyway, Woody wants to know, because he's too lazy to come and ask you himself, if you're coming in the water or if you're just gonna be boring and stay there all day?"

Kyle and Dan look at each other and nod. "Only if we can race you,"

  
The positions have swapped now- Will, Woody, and Charlie are on the beach, whereas Dan and Kyle are messing around splashing each other in the water.

They find themselves submerged in the water, both of them holding their breath and just holding each other. Dan's hands are on Kyle's shoulders, and Kyle's hands are on Dan's hips. Kyle moves closer to Dan, moving his hands up to his cheeks and planting a long, passionate kiss on his lips. He wishes there were thousands of ways for him to tell Dan he loves him, but he knows Dan knows anyway.

But Dan pushes him away with a picture of horror on his face. Seaweed has just touched his foot.

 


	21. Chapter Twenty One

Will, Woody, and Charlie, for some reason, decided it would be a good idea to go into the main city of Plymouth and go on an adventure. Dan, knowing how bad he is at not getting distracted by things and Kyle's terrible sense of direction, they thought it was a terrible idea. Granted, they were right, as they now stand in the middle of  _fucking nowhere,_ with no idea where their three other friends are.

"We're so fucked," Dan sighs, looking up and down the street. The only shops around them are small businesses that look a bit shady, so they decide not to go in them. "We don't even know anyone's phone number." 

Kyle gives the street a once over again, "I don't know what to do or say, babe," he huffs cluelessly. There is nothing around them that could be of any use- they can't even remember how to get back to the high street. "Should we go up there?" 

"We've already been up there, though," the low rumble of car engines and the occasional clicking of heels against the concrete fills the air, but nothing that could show them any way to get back to the familiar. "We've been everywhere we can think. We're lost." 

"We're not lost. Look, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. If you want, we'll sit in that cafe there, have something to eat, and hope to God we find each other, okay?" Kyle offers, raising his eyebrows at Dan, who, really, would prefer just to go on looking so they can go back home. As much as he hates to admit it, he does miss being back at school where they could lounge on the football field for hours and talk.

"Okay," he mumbles, feeling slightly defeated. He trails behind Kyle, almost feeling like a child throwing a fit, up the path and into the cafe where they both get a bacon sandwich, much to Kyle's delight. Dan was happier to get a good cup of tea.

"This can be our accidental date, huh?" Kyle winks at Dan, leaning over the table and grabbing the other boys hand, gently stroking his thumb against his knuckles. "I love you. You know that, don't you?" 

Recently, Kyle has felt that Dan has been really quiet. Since they went to the beach a few days ago, he hadn't been his usual self, instead falling quiet. Quiet is not how to describe the boy...

He nods, smiling. "Yeah, course I do." 

"You've been quiet rrecently," the other boy comments, biting his lip with concern in his brown eyes. Dan has never been able to get over how beautiful and absorbing Kyle's eyes are- then again, he finds it difficult to get over how beautiful Kyle is as a whole. "It's worrying me. You're never quiet." 

Dan looks down to his plate where the crumbs of his sandwich lie. "I guess I've just been thinking too much." 

"About what?" 

"Well... You, you do know about Will and his parents, right?" He asks, keeping his voice low. He hates the thought of having to tell Kyle about Will's parents because it's really not his point to say, but Will has been on his mind a lot recently. Kyle just nods. "Well, just imagine if that were you. I know you and your parents don't get along necessarily well, but imagine just not having them there. One minute you're there having a good time, celebrating Christmas' and birthdays, the next? They're gone. It makes me feel sick. It makes me feel bad for him, because, as bad as it is, I pity him. I pity him because when I think of it, all I can think of is it being his birthday, and nobody knows, and he just sits there knowing that nobody cares. Or it's Christmas, and everyone is at home, having a good time with their parents, and he's trapped at that shitty school all by himself with absolutely fuck all there. How on earth does he cope with it? It's not even the presents- nobody should spend Christmas alone. It's horrible."

Dan's voice cracks at the end of his sentence as tears flood his eyes. Will is such a nice, innocent person and it kills him to know what he has to go through.

"He doesn't even want this anymore. He told me. He sometimes just wants everything to end. Can you imagine that being you? Where you feel so fucking isolated that you think you'd be better off as nothing?" He asks Kyle through a straining voice, but Kyle can only watch his boyfriend as tears stream down his face. The picture that Dan has presented to him makes him feel sick because it's true. Nobody should have to spend any event being forgotten about.

"He has us now, Danny. That can't bring his parents back, but perhaps, if you're not bothered, we could stay at school over Christmas so he's not alone? I can't imagine it, either, Danny, but these things happen to good people. We just have to make sure he's okay, alright?"

Dan sniffles and nods, but he can hardly find the words to speak without completely sobbing his heart out. He doesn't know how nobody in the small cafe has noticed him.

"You're too good for the world, Dan. The world doesn't deserve you."

 


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

"Oh my God, where the Hell are they?" The voice of the drummer is saturated with worry, which spreads throughout his body. A frown is spread upon his face and panic is clear in his eyes. It's been about two hours since they last saw the couple, and Woody knows that if they do not find them soon, he's going to get his arse kicked when he gets home. "I'm sure they were right behind us!" 

Will looks up and down the high street, "I'm not sure. You know what they're like, though, always wandering off. They were with us in the comic book shop, I'm sure they were." 

When was that? An hour and a half ago? Two hours? Three? They were moaning about how people claimed to love comic book heroes but had only ever seen the films, not read the comic books.

"Yeah," the inside of his cheek is sore between his teeth as he chews it, "They were moaning, as usual." 

"Knowing them, they're probably sat in some fast food place eating," the youngest of the lot, Charlie, grins, "That's what they'll be doing." 

"Probably, yeah," the young drummer knows that they could be anywhere in the big city, but he decides to follow Charlie's advice and go to the local McDonald's to see if they are there.

 

"No, Ky. Playing the keyboard is easy! Come on, put one finger there, and another one there," Dan gently takes Kyle's hands and separates his fingers, placing them lightly on the correct keys. They tand next to each other, shoulders and arms touching. "Here, yeah, that's it. Now press that one, then this one. See, that sounds alright." 

Kyle follows the instructions of his boyfriend and tries to follow the small rhythm he has given him.

Both of them stand in a music shop that is down a small street they stumbled upon, although it's much bigger than it looks on the outside. The cashier pays absolutely no attention to them, instead choosing to play on her phone.

"There we go, look. I told you-you could do it!" A grin spreads across Dan's face as he nuzzles into Kyle's shoulder, smelling the scent of his strong aftershave.

"I'll mess it up," Kyle mumbles with clear worry in his voice, trying to focus on his breathing as well. He hates having to do things that involves too much thinking. His mind isn't made to do multiple things at once. Multi-tasking is a great weakness of his. "I'll forget it half way through." 

"No, you won't. You're just nervous. I have faith in you, Ky. You can do it if you set your mind to it." 

Laughter lines gather around Kyle's eyes as he smiles, "There you go with all your encouragements again." All the support that Dan gives him really helps him feel better about himself. "I love you." 

"I love you, too," Dan beams a smile that almost fills the room up with light, slipping his hand into Kyle's back pocket. "You know, Kyle, there's a McDonald's across the road," he mumbles, keeping his voice low so nobody- the cashier, really- cannot hear them.

"Yeah... You hungry again?" Kyle pulls a face at Dan, but the boy raises his eyebrows in response.

"Yeah, but not for food. They have bathrooms, you know? And we're quiet." Dan moves his hand around Kyle's bum, looking at Kyle from beneath hooded eyelids.

"...What? Why would we go to McDonald's then..." A few beats pass by before the penny drops, "Oh! Oh- no, no, no! I'm not... Not in McDonalds, Dan. That's.... Ugh.  _Ew."_

Kyle can't believe that Dan-  _DAN!-_ would even suggest such a thing!

"Oh, come on! Why not?" Dan's face is full of disappointment, and although he knows he will never admit it, he knows that Kyle considered the idea for a split second.

"Kids eat in McDonald's!" His boyfriend squeezes his eyes shut to get rid of the image, shaking his head. "God forbid we get caught, we'd be arrested." 

And suddenly, Dan realises why his idea is ridiculously bad. "Yeah... Yeah, let's not do that, actually. But still, as soon as we can, yeah?" 

Kyle smiles back at him, "Yeah." 

 

"Fucking Hell! Thought you two had been pissing kidnapped or something!" Woody sighs with relief as they find the pair on a small street, leaving a small music shop where Woody first became fascinated with drums. "Why'd you go wandering off?" 

"Just fancied a walk," Dan replies jokingly. "Nah, we just kinda lost you guys. Oh well, we're here now," 

"What've you done to your cast?" The bearded boy asks Charlie, noticing a big yellow M Drawn on it, a red circle coloured around it. 

"Well," Charlie sighs with a grin that spelt mischief before the previous disaster, "Will here decided that if he could eat twenty chicken nuggets in two minutes, I would have to draw it on my cast since it'll be ages until it is off." 

"I did it," the other boy grins cheerfully, patting his stomach. "It was glorious." 

Kyle frowns. "Just twenty? In two minutes. That's nothing. I could do double that." 

"Oh yeah?" 

"Yeah." 

"Have a tenner, then?" Will is quite up to eating another round of nuggets.

"Yep."

"You're on."

 


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

Will and Kyle look like the image of death. They have pale, slightly tinted green skin and they lie on the bed, a blanket stretched out over both of them as they top and tail. Woody looks angry, whereas Charlie and Dan are laughing at them.

"I told you not to do it," Dan says, shaking his head as he runs his hand through Kyle's hair, which is damp with sweat. "I told you exactly what would happen." 

"And I didn't listen," Kyle mumbles as he squeezes his eyes shut. It was a daft idea to ever challenge Will, although it's clear that the boy is in an equally as bad state as himself. "I'm stupid, huh?" 

Woody roles his eyes at the stupidly soppy couple, moving over to the TV to put on a film. The days until they go back to school are ticking quickly away, and he is not looking forward to it. It means he doesn't get to be in Plymouth anymore- and, more importantly, he can't go and watch Plymouth Argyle anymore, the best team in the country, in his opinion. However, he has managed to bag five tickets for the match on Saturday, then to go back to school on the Sunday. He can't wait to show the other four the wonders that is Plymouth Argyle.

Charlie sits next to Woody on the floor, fiddling with his cast. "My finger hurts," he tells Woody quietly, looking down with regret at it. He did think it was really cool in the beginning, but now it's just annoying him in ways words can't explain properly. He didn't want to admit this to his friends because he knows it was his fault for being so stupid, and not to mention the fact he has been in a lot of pain with it since it happened.

"I'm really sorry," Woody sighs, he knows it's his fault for sending Charlie and not being brave enough to do it himself. Charlie could have died if he was a little bit closer, and he hates himself over that fact. Sometimes he thinks he's blowing it out of proportion, but firecrackers are more dangerous than they seem.

The mumbles of Kyle and Dan in the background fill the room, although nobody can really hear what they are saying. Will is being so quiet that Woody thinks he's fallen asleep, but honestly, he has no idea how anyone thinks eating forty chicken nuggets is in any way a good idea.

"I was stupid enough to go up and do it, to be fair," Charlie shrugs, "Oh well, it's done and over now. We'll just say it's even, yeah?" 

Woody feels his conscience balance itself out a little bit as he smiles, "Okay." 

 

Both boys managed to survive the night, and last until Saturday, when Woody very cheerfully announced they were going to watch the boys in green. Dan, also liking football, was quite happy with the decision, but the other three weren't that bothered about it. But Woody paid for the tickets so it's only polite they go.

They stand pitchside in the stands, Dan listening to Woody enthusiastically point out all of his favourite players to him and telling him their history, like which team they were transferred from and for how much. Charlie just claps along with the rest of the crowd, and Will and Kyle are trying to work out what is happening. They understand the basics of the game, but they couldn't tell you much beyond that. Just aim for the goal and pray to score, and repeat. 

"Any idea what's happening, then?" Kyle asks the older boy, shoving his hands into his coat pockets. In return, he just shakes his head. 

"None at all..." He mumbles as the crowd starts to chant something. Woody joins in, but Dan just holds amazement in his eyes. He's always been a fan of football, but he mainly supports Wimbledon FC, so Plymouth is a whole different experience. 

"You have any idea?" He then asks Charlie, who is still clapping, though doing it very awkwardly with his cast. 

"Nope. Just clap when everyone else does, then they can't yell at you. But they might make a chant about the weird kid randomly clapping when the other team score." He laughs, looking at the other two with mischevious eyes. "We should totally do that." 

Kyle grins. Whilst it's a good idea, it's a cup match and therefore they would probably get thrown out.

"As good as it sounds, I don't want to be hated by a football ground, thank you," 

 

"GREEN ARMY!" Woody yells as the final whistle is blown, and Plymouth has won 2-0, which has worked out well since Charlie couldn't cheer for the other team. Woody's roar has got everyone around them all shouting the same thing.

"That was wicked!" The singer grins, his eyes alight with joy and excitement. He was on the edge of his seat the whole time, even when they had definitely won the game. It was amazing.

"See! Plymouth are a great team!" Woody tells Dan over the cheers of the crowd, "We're amazing!"

Will shakes his head at Kyle in a joking manner, and the boy just laughs quietly back.

"Better than any team you'll see!" He cheers, but Will perks up.

"So... That's why you're in league two, huh?" He teases, "Unlike other teams who have won the European Cup...Twice. Three times. More than that?"

"You shut up. We'll get there one day!"

 

"Thanks for letting us stay over, Mrs Wood," the boys thank Woody's mum as she drops them at school late the next evening, "It's been great."

"Anytime, boys. Be good this term, and, Charlie, for the love of God, don't lose a limb." She tells the teenager sternly, though with a hint of joke in her voice. Charlie just grins.

"I won't, or at least, I don't intend to..." He shrugs. He finds Woody's mum stunning, even though Woody looks like he's about to be sick every time he mentions it.

"Good. Anyway, I have to go. See you next term, guys!" She kisses the top of Woody's head, he tries to squirm away in embarrassment. She gets in the car and starts it, but Woody stops her.

"By the way, can you send me the new Plymouth kit when it comes out?"

 


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

The singer has to bite his lip to stifle a moan that has been building inside of him as Kyle moves, gently biting onto the boy's neck and leaving a mark. The simple action sends him off to a land far away, where there is no one to worry about, no one at school being horrible to them, and to a place where they live together, happy.

"I love you so much," Kyle sighs into his ear, sending chills down Dan's smile. He feels the weight of Dan on top of him, and he is so in awe of the boy at this moment, just the fact he is how he is, that Kyle wants to tell him. "You're so amazing." 

Dan can only grin, a pleasure filled smile filling his face. "I love you too," he pants, squeezing his eyes shut. God, what has he done to deserve Kyle?

Kyle wonders what he has done to deserve Dan.

 

"You guys do realise, don't you?" 

The group are enjoying the afternoon sun as they sit in the grass, savouring the warmth. Kyle and Dan are messing around and throwing grass and sticks at each other, whereas Woody is doing some biology homework. Charlie and Will are just lounging around, enjoying having nothing to do.

"We can't read your mind, Willers," Woody mumbles, chewing on the end of his pen. He really doesn't enjoy doing biology, so having to do homework outside of class is the worst.

"I know that, idiot. But exams are coming up," Will holds the exam time table in the air, but none of the others really seem that bothered.

"Yeah...?" 

"Well... We leave after our exams." His tone is low, and even though they aren't fully listening, the attention of the other boys turn to Will- especially Dan and Kyle, who both stop messing around quickly. "And that means, what, you'll go back to Plymouth, Kyle and Dan will go back to their families, and me and Charlie will..." 

He doesn't know what will happen after that. He'll turn eighteen- he'll be out of the government's hands and into his own. It'll be his job to worry, now, and that scares him. He has nowhere to go.

"I don't wanna go home," Kyle groans, throwing his head back. "God, I'm gonna move out straight away."  He wishes there was a way that they could stay together, as a group. He wishes they didn't have to separate like this.

But... He doesn't want to leave Dan at all. He will have to go back to his house on the outskirts of London, and Dan...? Where does Dan even live? The thought of them not being together kills the boy a little bit inside.

"What's going to happen to you?" Kyle asks quietly, so only he and Will can hear. Will just shrugs. "Is there... Is there nobody?" 

He shakes his head. "No one... I'll... God, Kyle. I have no idea." 

"Do you have, like, a social worker or something? Someone you can talk to?" He asks quietly, "Someone who can at least help you." 

"She doesn't come anymore," panic builds inside of him, but there is an underlying tone of annoyance in his voice. Why has nobody spoken to him about this sooner? "Oh my God, what am I going to do?" 

"Can't you speak to Mr Chambers?" Woody throws his pen at Charlie as Kyle talks, complaining about the question in front of him.

"After last night? I'm fucked, man..." 

"Come on, we'll go and talk to him now," Kyle stands up and offers a hand to help Will up. "We'll be back in a moment, guys." 

 

The two of them appear in Mr Chambers' office, much to the frustration of the man. He never wanted to lash out at Will like he did, but if Charlie had lost his life, or even his entire hand, the school would have been shut down no questions asked. He couldn't believe that Will, the one person in the school he would trust the most, just stood there and let it happen.

But now, Will has a look of fear on his face and tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asks the boy, his tough exterior dropping for the teen. In all honesty, since the boy had turned up here all those years ago with a sob story to melt even the coldest of hearts, he had taken him under his wing. Although he doesn't admit it often, he does love the boy. To him, Will is like a son of his own, but it hardly comes across like that.

"We're leaving soon," the tall boy stood next to Will says, the boy that had become mouthy with him.

"Yeah?" 

Nobody had ever cried over leaving Foxhill before.

"Where am I going to go?" Will then asks, his voice weak and quiet. "I can't go back home.  _This_ is my home..." 

 _Homeless?_ Would Will become homeless? The head shakes his head and rids the thought away from him- even though he is much older now, Chambers still sees the little boy stood in front of him, his innocence ripped away from him. He wouldn't let him find himself in such a position

"Well... Uh..." The man is at a loss for words. What can one say to help in this situation? "Can none of your friends help you?" 

"I'm just so sick of being a charity case, Sir. All my life I've had the pity card for me, people feeling sorry for me. I've not had the chance to do something myself, to be independent in something. I don't want to rely on others all the time." 

 

"We'll all move in together!" Dan tells Kyle enthusiastically when they are given a little bit of privacy. "We can live together. Near Charlie and Woody. And we can ask if Will wants to live with us!" 

Kyle shakes his head, "He doesn't want that, Baby. He doesn't want to be a charity case, as he calls it." 

The whole conversation had drawn Kyle into tears. In his eyes, Will had been a somewhat authoritive figure, and yet, there he stood, weak, defeated. 

"Even for a little bit? He has nowhere to go." 

"We can ask him," Kyle says, squeezing Dan's hand. "Can't guarantee he'll say yes."

"I hope he does," Dan says, taking a small step towards Kyle and taking his other hand.

"Me too," Kyle replies, kissing the boy. God, he loves Dan.


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

"There's no way it will work, Danny. As much as I really, really want it to, it just won't happen. I mean- neither of us have jobs or money, so what will we do?" The two of them lie in bed together, entangled in each other's arms. Although they never say anything, Dan's dorm mates, if he could call them that, have become used to seeing Kyle around. As much as some of them might not like it, most of them do, so there is a general consensus that nobody snitches on them.

"Well... Woody is going to apply to all these football academies, you know how they have them, so if he gets in that'll be something. And I can get a job somewhere or another, and so can you, and then we can pool our money together and get a flat. Will might have a job, so he can help. Then Charlie will hopefully still be alive with all of his limbs intact, so then there's him as well." Deep down in his stomach, he knows this probably will not work. They aren't even planning on living with Woody or Charlie, so that's them cut out.

It's all so complicated. Why had none of them thought of it before?

Kyle just shakes his head, "I don't know, Dan. For once I think you're being too optimistic about this." 

Both of the boys laugh. That's very unlike Dan.

"We'll just see what happens, yeah?" 

"Yeah." 

 

Every day, the exams seem to be approaching faster and faster. Every hour felt like a minute, which meant their revision didn't feel effective in the slightest. Woody was pretty chilled out about it, whereas Dan was a bundle of nerves and stress- how can he ever pass his exams when there is still so much to learn?

Between the hours of revising, sleeping, eating, and being in lesson, he had been able to pen a few letters to his mum (and definitely  _not_ including his stepdad), questioning exactly what will happen when he comes back from finishing his A Levels. Her replies had been simple: you get a job. Yes, of course, mother, but what about Kyle? He doesn't want to live in that house anymore, he wants to have the independence, he wants to be with Kyle.

 _Kyle._ He hasn't even told any of his family about Kyle- he dreads what they'll say. His dad would probably be more accepting than his mum (she had questioned many times in the letters to if he has a girlfriend yet. Kyle was in fits of laughter as he saw the reply  _'definitely not'_ on the paper), but he's still so worried. School has become his mini-society, he is comfortable here. He's scared of going out into the big world.

"Come on, Dan. Have a break will you?" Will suggests to the teen as he lounges on his bed. The fluffy haired boy sits over his desk, coloured notes covering every surface. "You'll make yourself ill." 

"I'm okay," his voice is hardly audible as he replies. Two hours into his revision, he hardly feels like he's learnt anything. Will has only been in there for half an hour, and he feels the second-hand stress already. 

"No, come on, take a break. Let's go out for a bit, yeah?" His proposal is rejected with a shake of Dan's head. "Dan-" 

"Will, I'm going to fail my exams," Dan growls, still not lifting his head from the books. "I am going to fail my exams, and then everything I have ever tried to work for will be nothing. Please,  _please_ let me revise." 

Will rises from his position on the bed and walks over to Dan, picking up the coloured sheets of paper on the way and showing it to him. "Dude, look at your report man. C, C, B, A, A, C, B, A. That's brilliant. Mine are all D's. You'll not fail."

Dan lifts his eyes to look at him, "Yeah, and if I forget something? Those C's? D's. Then they become E's. Then U's. Then there's no grade and no chance of me getting a job." 

Will rolls his eyes and throws the sheets of paper down on the desk. "Fine, well make yourself sick. Don't say I never warned you." 

The door slams shut behind him, and the boy disappears down the stairs and heads out the front door. 

He's been so overwhelmed with panic about the looming thought of leaving school that he hasn't given himself chance to revise. The way he sees it is that he's never been destined for much, anyway. Probably homeless. He's already doomed to lead a depressing life.

Nonetheless, he skips down the front steps to the door and heads towards the main gates to disappear into the town for a little bit- more specifically, the call phone there. There is one in the main reception, but he'd rather do it where there is nobody from school there to hear him.

"Oi, Farquar!" He hears a familiar voice shout him. His lanky friend is stood metres behind him, hands in pockets. "Where you off, then?" 

"Just into the town," he shrugs carelessly, "Need to talk to someone." 

"Oh, right. Is Dan in his room?" Kyle has concern on his face, though he doesn't bring it up.

"Stressing and refusing to not revise as always, but yeah, he's there." Will shoves his hands into his trouser pockets with a light laugh. Kyle gives him a thumbs up and thanks him, before disappearing.

 

"I think we'd make really awesome roommates," Charlie tells Woody as they lounge around in the drummers' room, a few PAFC posters plastering the walls. "It'd be such a laugh." 

Woody grins along with him, "Hell yeah. I did ask the school if they would let us share a room since some are doubles, but they said absolutely not under no circumstances. Chambers' said we'd make too much trouble." 

"They're probably right, to be fair." 

Woody nods. "Yeah, course they are." 

 

"Please answer, please answer," Will mumbles as he stands in the small booth, one hand cradling his head and the other holding the phone. Both of his hands are visibly shaking. 

_"Hello. Unfortunately, your call cannot be taken at this time as the person you are trying to call is out of office or otherwise busy. Please leave your name and message after the tone, and we will get back to you."_

Will sighs and slams the phone back down into the receiver in annoyance, hiding his face in his hands. Even when he tries to reach out and get help, there's still nobody there for him.

Tears pool in his eyes, a feeling of absolute hopelessness filling him. In times like these, he wishes he didn't have to put up with any of this- if the crash had never happened, he would still be with his parents, he wouldn't be at the school.

But if he had died in the car crash, things still would have been better. 

He tries to rid his head of those horrible, familiar thoughts by shaking his head. He has friends, now. He has no reason to say any of that- after everything everyone has done for him.

 _You're so ungrateful._ He tells himself.

Sometimes he looks at the buildings, specifically at the height of them. He wonders that, if he just happened to fall, would it kill him? Yeah, then it'd look like an accident. He's envisioned this many times...

 

 


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

The wind blows against his body as he stands atop the building, his hands tucked into his pockets. His fists are balled as a chill blows down his spine, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. This doesn't throw him off the idea, though. The sun is high in the sky yet the streets are bare of any people. Were they this empty before? He can't remember.

He doesn't think the streets being empty is a bad thing, no. At least this way nobody will see it happen, and it will all be just  _an accident._

He has thought this over a billion and one times in his head- he's toyed with the idea, almost obsessing over what happens next, time after time. He's thought of all the ways, the methods, which one he would prefer. Although he never thought he'd actually be stood here, feeling the wind nipping at his skin. It makes everything feel so much more real.

Yet, there he is. Stood about ten stories up, looking out across the town and to the bland old school that, for the recent years, he has called home. He wonders what the teachers would think- well, he doubts many of them would be upset. Mr Chambers clearly doesn't care much now. He's nothing more than just another person, another face, another statistic.

 _Victim?_ Victim of  _what?_ He wonders to himself, letting his eyes rest on the school. Of his own mind? Fate? It must be something like that. It's the only way he can make sense of it.

Death is a fear that many hold. A lot of people find comfort in the idea of going to Heaven, or an enteral paradise that will provide them with endless happiness. Will doesn't know what to make of it, and he never has done. All he knows is that dying isn't the end for him. It's the beginning of something much better.

The boy prepares himself, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He repeats in his mind what is going to happen when he touches the ground.

_There will be no pain. You'll be with Mum and Dad again. You'll be a family unit, like you've wanted. You'll be happy. You'll be able to speak to them again, to be with them again. Stop being such a coward. What are you losing?_

Will was  _so_ close to his parents, their relationship was solid, set in stone. They were so,  _so_ close in fact that if he were ever given the option to swap positions with them, he would. If it had meant that they were here today, he wouldn't mind being the one that died on that awful day. He wishes that's the way it would pan out. 

He considers himself useless. What will he ever give to society? All he has done so far is drain from the government, from the taxpayers, as he reads a lot in the news. But his parents? His parents were his personal superheroes. They were there whenever they needed him, and, no matter what it was, he could ask them absolutely anything.

Now he's alone in this world.

Slowly, he takes a timid, small step forward, and glances over the edge. The sudden gust of wind fights against his body, almost telling him:  _go. Do it._

With a final breath, the boy moves his foot, shutting his eyes tight.

"Woah, woah, woah. Let's just take a quick step back from that edge, yeah?" Kyle is out of breath as he appears on the ladder leading up and down the building. He has moved faster than ever before to get here. "You're so stupidly good at hiding these things," 

"You have to be when you're horrifically depressed," the boy's eyes are set like stone, and he's slightly annoyed that such an interruption has come. The small rocks beneath his heel as he turns to look at Kyle, lingering closer to the edge than the other boy would like.

"You shouldn't hide things from me." He walks closer to Will, gently taking his arm in his own and pulling him back a little bit, further away from the edge. "You really need to start speaking to me. You know you can trust me, don't you?" 

Will's hands are shaking badly, which Kyle takes into account. He wonders that if he was just moments later, he would have come across a tragedy rather than this. He feels sick at the thought of Will not being with them anymore. They would not be a friendship group without all of them there.

The other boy, however, just shrugs, wondering why it is that everything always has to go wrong with him. Even when he wants to end it all, his plans still can't be completed. It's as if his author was indecisive on how his story will end. 

"I want my parents back with me, Ky. You may not get on very well with yours, and I understand that. But I  _loved_ mine. They were the best parents I could have ever dreamed of having. I just want more time with them, man, I want to be with them again." Will sighs as tears pool in his eyes, every step away from the edge feeling as though he's being pulled back from his biggest dream. Well, that's exactly what is happening.

"And you think jumping would have brought you that?" Kyle sits opposite Will on the cold concrete of the roof, watching as tears stream down Will's face. He hides in his hands, not wanting to show his weakness to the world. Kyle's stomach has fallen through the floor.

"Well... It would have brought me them..." 

"Yeah, and death," Kyle mumbles.

"You make it sound like a bad thing. Look, Kyle. Put it this way: You have Dan. Dan loves you- God, he loves you more than he loves anything at all. Woody and Charlie? Best makes, they'd kill for each other. Who do  _I_ have, Kyle? For now, you guys, yeah. What about when we leave? When we do our exams and we're released into the big, wild world? I'll be alone. I'll be a charity case. Again. That homeless bloke you don't want to make eye contact with as you walk down the road. My existence is worthless. Now I'm being denied the  _only_ thing that will make me happy." 

Will's speech leads Kyle to be at a loss for words. Honestly, he had never thought of it like that. Not for a moment did he think that Will truly is the odd one out in their friendship group, and suddenly, all he can feel is pity.

"Will... We won't let that happen to you," he tries his best to comfort him, moving closer so he can hold Will and rub his back, having him close. "You know we'll always be here for you."  

"Yeah, it's so easy to say that when you're sat next to me." Will's still shaking, but he tries to ignore that as he wipes his eyes.  _Why? Why did you have to find me?_ "You don't get it, though. I know and I appreciate that you're trying, okay? I really do, but... But it's just not the same. Sometimes you need to experience these things yourself- I'm not saying that you have to live through your parents' death, but please just try to stand in my shoes for a little bit. I am  _that_ kid. I am that kid that grew up without his parents, that kid with the tragic backstory, that kid who has just always been here. That kid who's here all year round. I'm  _that_ person, the person everybody stays away from. Do you know how isolating it is? Hell, before Dan came along, I barely ever spoke to anyone. Woody and Charlie, yeah, but in the morning. I was the odd one out, always. Nobody wanted me to be on their sports team, nobody wanted me to sit with them. This is what's best for me, Kyle. That way you can just forget and you will _know: I'm happy."_

 

Kyle stares up as he lies in his own bed that night, his thoughts completely occupied by Will. Even his boyfriend, who sits in his own dorm studying even though it's twelve at night, isn't on his mind.

He had only gone into the town because Dan was too busy revising to pay him attention, so he decided to see if he could hunt down Will. But when he saw him up there, his legs had never moved so fast.

He feels sick, so,  _so_ sick. Part of him wonders if Will is angry at him for it, but the other half doesn't care. Will is worth a lot better than what he recieves. 

So he decides he will try and make Will's life feel a lot better, a lot happier. If that's the only way he can show him how much he appreciates him, then so be it.

He refuses to let Will think of himself as worthless the way he does. He is worth so much more than that label.


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

Over the last week or so, since Kyle and Will were stood atop the building that almost claimed Will's life, Dan was able to sort out a job for when he finally leaves the school. Although he isn't necessarily looking forward to it, he is looking forward to not being stuck here. Being able to have a life and be able to go to other places, not just the town, would be great. His mum had also agreed to help pay rent for a few months for a flat in Greater London until he's successfully on his feet and able to pay it himself.

"Come one!" He had attempted to encourage her, making his voice sounds as cringy cheerful as he could get it, "After sending me  _here,_ of all places, I think you could at least do this! Please?" 

She had reluctantly agreed, saying that she would only pay for three full months (although Dn decided to split this so he would pay half, therefore it would make it last for sixth months). Dan was so overjoyed about that and mentioned his friend, Kyle, would be staying, and therefore he could also help out. His mum just hummed in response.

 

"Don't you think old Willers has been a little bit  _too_ quiet recently?" Charlie questions the other three quietly as they eat dinner a few days later. For some reason, Will is late- though the boys suspect that this is because his teacher is the  _'the bell is there for me, not for you'_ type. Kyle keeps quiet, deciding it would be best for himself to not join in on this conversation.

Dan has his head buried in a book, one of his hands scribbling away furiously whilst the other just shovels food into his mouth. Undoubtedly, the other three are slightly jealous that they do not have that ability.

"He is a quiet person. Just let him get on with it, I guess," Woody shrugs, tapping his fingers across his plastic beaker. They aren't allowed glass since a kid got stabbed one time, long before even Chambers was here. Much alike everyone else in the room, Woody cannot wait to be back home, back in his home with his family.

He has already applied for a few universities, but none of them have got back to him yet. His voice choice is Plymouth, of course, although he's also applied to East London as well, so he can be close to his family and to his friends, since Dan and Kyle's flat will be in Greater London.

"Yeah, but he's been... You know, really quiet. All the time I've known him he's never been like this," Charlie uses his fork to push the food around on his plate. "It's concerning." 

Dan and Kyle exchange a glance quickly, but say nothing. Kyle hasn't even told Dan about finding Will on the roof- he has feared for a long time about losing Will, especially since the event. Over time, the two have become good friends, even if Will didn't like Kyle in the first place.

"Don't be worried," Kyle comments with a shake of his head, "I'm sure he's fine." 

 

Kyle, Will, and Dan sit in Will's room, laughing about something or another that really wasn't all that funny, but it was so stupid it was funny. The slight tension that has been created due to the previous rooftop experience (it hasn't been tension as such, but it has been awkward beyond words) has now drained away, and the pair are not as close as they were beforehand.

Will looks at them both, smiling. "This is going to be so weird, not being here anymore." He comments, watching the other two. When Kyle cocks an eyebrow at him in concern, he retraces his words. "At school, I mean." 

Dan and Kyle exchange a glance but say nothing. Kyle hasn't even told Dan about finding Will on the roof- he has feared for ages of losing Will. Over time, the two have become good friends, even if Will didn't like Kyle in the first place.

Dan shakes his head, his hair, which is in desperate need of a cut, bouncing everywhere. "You know you're moving in with us. Stop being so concerned about all of this!"

"No, Dan..." 

"I'm not taking no for an answer, okay? You have nowhere else to go, and besides, you're our best friend. It's not a burden, or whatever you think." He smiles at Will, but his words have an underlying tone of forcefulness. 

"I'm not-" 

"Saying no. You're not saying no at all. We're just being good friends," Kyle shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "We are not taking no for an answer, alright?" 

Will smiles, although there is a heavyweight of guilt sitting on his shoulders, almost feeling as though it may drown him. "Okay..." 

Dan and Kyle look at each other and grin, hands squeezing one another. Will and Kyle are just happy that Dan has finally taken a break from revising.


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

Today is the day of the boys' first exam, English, and only two of them feel even mildly prepared for it. As a matter of fact, they could hardly eat their breakfast over their nerves.

"You'll be fine, guys," their teacher had said as they stood at the front of the exam hall, waiting to go in. "You know  _all_ the stuff you need to, okay? You'll do brilliantly! I have  faith in each and every one of you." 

 

But... The boys thought otherwise during the exam. Kyle was busy thinking about all the things they were not taught that they should have known, so much so that he almost forgot to write his name on the exam.

Woody finished the exam with fifteen minutes to spare, so, after going through his exam a couple of times to make sure it's okay, and then puts his head on his desk and silently prays to God for a good enough grade to get into uni with.

Charlie bombed through the paper, writing down all the bullshit he could think of, and hoping for the best. After that, he just doodles on an extra sheet of paper. 

Dan took his time with the paper, writing pretty much the same thing he writes in lessons so he can achieve the same grade as he does in the classroom. He really hopes he can at least get an A in this, then he can do it at uni.

Will, much like Dan, took his time with the paper, thinking hard about his answer. As much as he knows he probably won't need it, he'll have a better chance of getting a job if he gets a higher grade.

 

Their hands ache and their faces are pale when they walk out of the exam, collecting their bags and jackets on the way out.

"I've failed!" Woody announces loudly to his friends and fellow students, who all laugh at the comment. "U grade crew stick your hand up!" 

To that, a lot of people raise their hand, including the group of friends. But Kyle shakes his head at Dan and slips his hand into his boyfriends'.

"You've definitely not failed," he tells him quietly, walking with him as they follow their friends, "You're the brightest kid in that lesson." 

"Well, yeah, but what if the examiner is tired or something, so they then mismark it?" 

"That won't happen, Dan. If you come out with anything less than a B when you're supposed to get an A, they'll send it back to be remarked." They walk towards the school gates to go to the fish and chip shop, deciding the best after-exam food is the English traditional. Dan just shakes his head.

 

"Jesus... It's only like, what, another three weeks or so until we leave?" Woody whistles, his eyebrows raising. He's not quite sure how he feels about leaving. Part of him excited, yes, but he's leaving such a big part of his life behind. He doesn't think he's comfortable with that. "It's so crazy..." 

Charlie, as the drummer is not looking, leans over and steals a chip or two from his tray, only watching the boy who looks thoughtfully into the distance. "I know. I tell you, it's mental!" 

The drummer finally looks back to his friends but doesn't notice the missing food. "I'm not going to have my two gay best friends!" 

Kyle and Dan laugh with him, "Don't be stupid," Dan giggles, shaking his head. "Of course you'll still have us. We'll never be far awway." 

"Yeah, and the gayness is difficult to escape," Kyle snickers, a grin plastered on his face, "Welcome to the Darkside!" 

"We have rainbows!" 

Dan leans into Kyle's shoulder, the others laughing at them. Dan knows he's going to miss all of this, all of the inside jokes they have together, and all of the general laughs they have. It's a strange feeling, considering he hated his family for sending him here in the first place.

Questions fill his mind at what may have happened if he had never been sent here. He never would have met Kyle, and he would still be friends with all of the old clique. And Will? Well, God knows what would have happened if they weren't there for him.

 

"Oi, Simmons. Where's your bum buddy boyfriend, huh?" One of Kyle's old friends teases, raising his eyebrows at the boy, who rolls his eyes.

"Depends on who the fuck thinks they are asking." Kyle replies with a voice as cold as stone. The others just smirk.

"Well, put it this way; what we were going to do to him, we'll do to you unless you tell us where he is." They threaten, thinking Kyle will cough up. Hell, if they looked for him, it wouldn't be hard to find him.

The other boy pauses, biting his lip. He doesn't want to put Dan into danger. 

"And you won't do it to him?" Kyle questions with a quiet voice. They nod.

 

"Kyle, what the fuck- are you drunk?!" Woody says as he finds Kyle later that night as they cross the school courtyard with a bunch of cling film in their hands so they could prank the boy's dorm- but that plan has changed now. "Are you bleeding?" 

Kyle lies on the floor, a few hundred feet away from his dorm. His skin, from under the amber lamp above him, is bruised black and purple, blood running from his nose and lip, which are clearly split. He groans.

"What happened? What the fuck happened, Kyle?" Charlie asks as he kneels down by Kyle, putting his hand on Kyle's cheek, inspecting it.

"D-don't let Dan find me," the hurt boy says quietly, groaning in pain. He didn't think they would actually do it. Still, he would rather it happen to him than to Dan. "Please don't let him find me," 

"We won't," Woody says, taking his jumper off and tucking it under Kyle's head to stop it from lying against the cold floor. His tall frame looks so small lying there. "Charlie, go and get Will. Will always knows what to do." 

"No!" Kyle yelps, lifting his head, but it hurts too much so he puts it down. "We don't need Will," 

"Tell us what happened, Kyle. Please," Charlie insists.

"They said they were going to do something to Dan, and if I didn't tell them where he was, they would do it to me." Kyle mumbles, feeling Woody press a tissue against his lip timidly.

"Oh my God, man..." The drummer sighs, "Come on, sleep in our dorm."

They help Kyle stand up, in an absolute state, and lead him back to their dorm, ducking between prefects so they won't get caught. Woody feels horrible that people can be this sick.

"Don't tell Dan," Kyle mumbles as he feels his heavy, sore eyelids droop closed. "Don't...Don't tell Dan."

 


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

Kyle had panicked that night that Dan would see him- he didn't want him to see the horrible colours that his skin had been painted. They had spent a lot of the night (and part of the morning) trying to devise a plan to keep Dan away. As bad as he feels for doing it, he knows that Dan will only worry and freak out if he found out the truth.

So, in turn, the boys land in a small town a few miles away from their school. It's exactly two weeks until they are supposed to leave the school for good, and Dan is a mess because of the amount of pressure and stress from teachers, so they decided to help him relax a little bit by taking the day off of revision, and spend it in a completely new environment.

They climb off of the bus after travelling for a while to get to their destination, limbs and necks aching. Woody climbs off before all the others, and Dan and Charlie battle to see who will get off next.

"So, why didn't Kyle come?" Dan asks when he skips off of the bus, yawning and stretching out his arms, almost punching Charlie in the side of the head by accident. He holds a sleepy, sweet, innocent smile on it, which suggests he doesn't know about the patchy colours on his skin.

Charlie and Woody glance at each other, but it is so fast that there's no way Dan would have noticed them doing it. "I asked if he was coming today and he said no. He said he feels really sick and just wants to be left alone. Probably exam stress..." Charlie says quickly, "I wouldn't bother him. He did look awfully pale." 

"Yeah," Woody agrees along with his best friend, hoping Dan won't see through the clear lie, "He said to go on, anyway. He doesn't want to be  _that_ guy." 

But Dan's face suddenly drops, regret filling him. "Really? Oh, well... Maybe I should have stayed back..." He bites his lip in concern, his thoughtful words barely a mumble. Kyle had seemed fine the day before, how ill could he be today/ It's unlike him to miss out on this...

"No, no," Woody brushes it off, "He told us not to let you, anyway. Let him rest, I'm sure he's going to be fine." 

Woody brushes the conversation away by pointing out places in the area they could go to. He mentions there's a park around here somewhere, but he's not quite sure where. Dan still feels anxiety bubbling away inside of him, though he doesn't know if he quite believes his friends, but he doesn't want to doubt them, either. It is possible that he could become ill due to the stress of the exams, but Dan's not entirely sure.

 

Kyle sits in Woody's room the following day, using bags of ice to cool the bruising on his face. He mumbles every swear word under the sun as he gingerly touches his face, biting his lip with tear filled eyes. 

His skin is pale yet covered in colourful bruises and there's still a bit of dried blood coming from his scabbed lip. In all of his years, he's never looked quite this bad...

He hates the people that have done this to him. This really shows the loyalty of his old friends in comparison to that of his new ones. He wishes he was never friends with the others at all. It's unfair how everything had decided to work out. 

Worry fills him about Dan- what if it was him who found him lying there in the cold, blood trickling down his face and onto the floor with new bruises forming on him? That is his worst nightmare. He had tried his best to get away from Dan. He would prefer a prefect finding him than Dan, because all Dan would have done is worry and get worked up.

He was okay, though. Physically, perhaps not, but as long as Dan is okay, so is he.  
  


"What happened?" Will asks quickly as Dan disappears off to the toilet halfway through eating a McDonalds. "What's really wrong with Kyle?" 

"His dickhead ex-friends beat the shit out of him," Woody sighs, shaking his head. "Found 'im last night. Right state, blood all over his face." 

"Yeah," Charlie continues, "Spent the night in Woody's room and he's still there, I'm guessing. Face is completely bruised." 

"He said he didn't want Dan to see him because it would make him worry, that's why we've come out today." 

"Dan needs to know," Will mumbles quietly, biting the inside of his lip. "They're in a relationship, they should share all of this." 

"I know, but... It's not up to us," Charlie shrugs, taking a drink of his coke. "All we can do is what they both want us to do."


	30. Chapter Thirty

Dan doesn't get chance to see Kyle much over the next few days- even when he tried to visit his dorm late one night, talking quietly through the door. Kyle claimed he was too sick to even let Dan in, even though he didn't really  _sound_ ill. He would sit his exams away from everyone else, in a room by himself. The school had let him do it since he was so ill, or so Dan thought. Realistically, Kyle just played up Hell until they let him do it. Some others got to do it, too, which was his argument. He left his exams as fast as he could. He wouldn't eat, either, instead just hiding in his room.

But this fact itself was having an effect on Kyle. He wouldn't eat as much as he should be eating, and because of that, he was losing a lot of weight. He wondered if he should let Kyle see his now fading bruises- if you had seen him with his bruises, you wouldn't really notice them now, but Kyle fears his boyfriend will notice the dull yellows of his skin.

The once happy, smiling basketballer is now covered in fading bruises and healing cuts, his clothing hanging off of his frame. But Dan is happy and okay, so he doesn't mind.

 

"Come on, man. He's going to find out," Will tells him quietly, sitting on Kyle's bed next to him. Charlie had gone into the town with Dan whilst Woody was playing football to distract him for a little bit. "We're leaving here soon, he's gonna want to spend time with you, he's going to want to make memories. You can't hide this forever." 

Kyle grunts as he looks over his book full of notes for his PE exam tomorrow. He wishes he didn't have to hide it, but the fact is that Dan will put this on his own shoulders if Kyle tells him the truth- there's no other lie he could say to cover this up.

"They'll be gone in a few days," he murmurs, not looking up. He feels awful already, he doesn't need Will guilt tripping him like he is doing now. If he was never friends with his old clique in the first place, all of this could have been avoided. "We can play this off a little bit longer," 

Will shakes his head at him. "No, we can't. He's stressed enough from his exams, and now you're  _'sick',_ he feels even worse," he tells him, using his hands to make air quotations. "You're his  _boyfriend,_ Kyle. You need to be open with each other,  _honest."_

"What, so he'll just feel guilty that I didn't let them go after him instead of me? God, if he wasn't getting bullied before by my old friends, then they try and jump him! What if I told them, Will? What if I was naive and told them?" Kyle finally looks up at Will with tears in his eyes "God, they  _hate_ him and I don't have any idea why! I can't do anything to stop them if I'm not there!"

"Then all the more reason for you to be there for him, then," Will just looks at Kyle, "Come on, man-" 

From down the hall, there is a strangled, "KYY-YYYLEEEEEEE!" As footsteps bound down the hall, following a  _'get the fuck out of this dorm, freak',_ before the door bursts open, swinging and hitting the door. 

 _"Really fucking sick, huh?!"_ Dan questions, appearing by the door with anger and hurt on his face. 

"Kyle, I'm sorry!" Charlie yells as he appears in the door, but Dan slams it behind him and narrowly avoids hitting Charlie in the face. "I tried to-" 

"Or  _avoiding_ me, huh? Fucking... Fucking  _lying!"_ Dan finally takes a good look at his boyfriend, his features softening in concern when the yellows on his face and the scab on his lip come into view. "What... What have you done?" 

Will stands up from the bed and leaves the room, taking Charlie with him and mumbles about  _giving them space,_ before the door quietly clicks shut.

"Kyle-" 

"They wanted to hurt you, Dan," he stands to hold the boy in his arms, hold him tight. "they wanted to know where you were so they could hurt you. I wouldn't let them do that, I wouldn't let them hurt you." 

"So they hurt you instead?" The other boy questions, placing his hands on either side of Kyle's face, his thumbs gently gracing over the healing bruises. "That's why you've not been around us, then?" 

Kyle nods sheepishly as he bites his lip. He buries his head in Dan's neck and takes a deep breath, savouring the touch and smell of him. "I'm sorry, Danny. I shouldn't have lied. I didn't want you to feel guilty, though." 

Dan nods, not accepting the apology although not rejecting it. He remains silent as he rubs Kyle's back and puts one hand in his hair.

"I love you," Kyle adds quietly, his arms wrapped tightly around Dan. In some ways, he looks like a toddler, a look of worry on his face, and looking shorter than he usually does. "I really do." 

"I love you, too." Dan replies, thankful that he's bruised and not broken. "You can just be a bit of a dick sometimes." 

"I know," 

A silence falls over the room, and Kyle fears that the prefects may come and shout at them, but then he stops caring. Dan is his main concern right now.

 

"Man, I'm really not ready to leave here," Woody says a few days later, when most of the exams are finished and there are only a few days left. "When you're dumped here, it feels like you'll never leave, no matter how much you want to. But then you make some really good friends and suddenly you have to leave." 

"It's home..." Will mumbles in agreement, though they all know it's deeper than being simply somewhere to live. It's far more than that...

Charlie looks down to his hand, which has had it's cast removed a few days ago, "It'll always have a part of me. Literally an metaphorically." 

The group burst into laughter at that, and Dan looks to his group who have become his family, and he wonders what life will be like without them.

But that's not something he will dwell on. They'll always be there.


	31. Chapter Thirty One // Finale//

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, guys. The very final chapter. Thanks for sticking with it until the end! I owe it all to you lot x

Final exams have come to an official end now, which the entirety of the boys' year are thankful for, whilst the younger years looked on in envy. The school said their final goodbye to the year group, and they were finally allowed to leave whenever they wanted to- well, within reason, of course.

Woody, Dan, Kyle, and Charlie standing in the car park, all chatting away with each other. Two of them wait for Woody's mum, since she said Charlie could stay with them due to strong tensions between himself and his family, and the other pair waits for their own parents.

"I'm going to miss all of this," Kyle tells his friends, keeping his hands off of his boyfriend despite the need to put his hand in his and hold it, "Seeing you lot every day."

"I know," the trouble-maker of the ground replies, "shoving his hands into the pocket of his leather jacket. "It's gonna be so weird."

"And there's not going to be any pranks from you two," the boy looks to Woody, his best friend and partner in crime, as Dan speaks, throwing his head back. As much trouble as they caused, and how stupid the pranks were, Dan loved them.

"Where is Will?" The footballer finally asks, looking around. The absence of their other friend had been noticed a while ago, but he didn't question it believing he will probably be in his room. He's thankful Woody has, though.

"I think Mr Chambers wanted to speak to him," there's a chilly gust of wind as a car pulls out of the car park, the numbers of students slowly thinning. "You can't blame him for hanging around so long, though, he's been here long enough."

The others nod at his comment.

 

Fear bubbles from the pit of Will's stomach as he appears in the doorway to Mr Chambers' office, worry that he may be in trouble for doing something. He doesn't want to get yelled at by Mr Chambers again.

"Sir?" He says quietly, gaining the man's attention. He remembers the way he looked at him years ago when himself and the teacher were much younger. The pitiful boy, the orphan, and the teacher who held sympathy in his eyes and took the boy into his care. "You wanted to speak to me?"

The teacher looks at Will and rises from his chair, "Yes, please," the teacher says, walking to the door and shutting it after Will has walked into the office, allowing them some privacy. "I... I just wanted a chat with you, that's all." 

Will's blood starts to feel too hot, the same anxiety of being in this potion years ago. Instead of being a sheepish young boy in completely new surroundings, he is now a sheepish young man leaving all he has known for the better part of the last ten years, however still unaware of what is to come next.

"What about, Sir?" He asks quietly. 

"Well... This is it, Will. This is the last time we'll see each other, and I just want to talk about these last few years." The head-teacher gestures for Will to sit in the chair opposite his own, and the boy does. "Listen, I know you may be a little bit annoyed at me still because of the other week, and for that I am sorry. There was so much at risk, but I had no right to yell at you the way I did. I'm very sorry." 

Will nods in understanding. Although it angered him at the time, that he had received the biggest backlash from the teacher, it doesn't bother him much now.

"But I think of you as a son, William. These last years, I've seen you grow and develop pretty much every day, and I think you have turned into such a great young man. You're always my left-hand man when I need you. You're wise, and I have no doubt that you're going to go far." 

A smile breaks across the teenagers face. He has never heard those words said to him before, so it means a lot. 

"And I'm sorry. I'm sorry your parents aren't there for you, and I'm sorry that you must now wade into the great unknown, and I'm sorry how... How  _tragic_ all of this has turned out. I'm so sorry. But just remember, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, whatever you need, we are here for you. We are only one call away." 

 

 

Kyle and Dan lie on the sofa, wrapped up in each other's arms. "I can't believe we have a house now," Dan laughs breathlessly, his body aching. Moving all of those boxes in had been an absolute pain, and so was moving all of the furniture in, squeezing them through doors clearly too small.

"Finally. After all these years." Kyle smiles, wrapping his arm around Dan and feeling him rest of his chest, his hand resting on his stomach. 

"Always!" Dan laughs with a snort at his own comment. Kyle just shakes his head, a dopey, satisfied smile on his face. 

"You're such a dork," he tells his boyfriend, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. Not everything had gone to plan, not by any means, but they made the best with what they had. It meant they had to sofa surf on the sofa of pretty much everyone they knew. They worked all day to make ends meet, but eventually, they got here.

Everything had worked out quite well for them, otherwise; when they left the school, Dan had a job straight away, and Kyle's charm meant he got one soon after, so they were able to get money and keep their relationship as healthy, happy, and cheesy as it always has been. 

Woody and Charlie moved in together as flatmates. Despite the original plan that he was so set on, Woody didn't go to university, instead deciding to join a semi-professional football team on the weekends whilst working in a music shop to pay the rent. Charlie was doing gigs quite a lot with his guitar and encouraged the others to do the same, but none of them were quite that confident yet.

Will, on the other hand, had a rough beginning to the start of his life outside of Foxhill high. He refused to move in with Dan and Kyle, instead flying under their radar. Nothing had come through to him initially, nobody got in contact with him from social services to make sure he had somewhere to go, to which he did not. He had to go homeless for a few months, which came as no surprise to him. Months on end were spent on the cold pavement, soaked to the bone with rain.

Will's unfortunate story came to a fortunate end when Charlie did a gig and noticed a figure in the doorway opposite his venue and decided to give him twenty pounds to get some food or a blanket or something- but, much to his horror and surprise, it turned out to be Will. Refusing to leave him on the streets ("Do you know how fucking worried we have been about you? You ran off from Dan and Kyle and refused to let them help, but I'm not having it now.") , he forced him to come back to his apartment, and Charlie took the sofa whilst Will showered and got a good nights sleep in a bed at long last. 

"It's a good life, Kyle," Dan smiles, closing his eyes. "It's a good life."

Kyle closes his own eyes, a loving smile spreading on his face. "I love you, Sparky."


End file.
